Don't You Forget About Me (2010)

Boring

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Blistering performances.

A documentary about a bunch of wannabe-documentary filmmakers who got amazing subjects to interview yet got nothing from them because they focused more on their own presence on screen as if anyone is or would be interested in a pack of perfect nobodies in the filmmaking industry. They behaved more like stalkers than doc makers. A pathetic lot they proved to be and a true disservice to John Hughes' work and persona. More than half the film you see these newbies pulling ideas out of their asses which evidently showed how unprepared they were to confront this task. They may have been fans but that didn't make then researchers on the subject. Also, if you read the threads section, you'll notice some of them, as little brats, have jumped in to defend their crock of feces in the most immature and unprofessional way. Skip this one... you'll be glad you did.

The fact that Roger Ebert called John Hughes the "philosopher of adolescence" obscures the fact that he was to a larger degree a commercially highly successful writer, producer and also director of mainstream movies in general. Not all of them were great -- I think that Weird Science, for example, is crap (great title though). The documentary works great when we see all those familiar faces from his best movies such as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" thirty years later talking about their joyful memories from when they were young and stars. Then there is a lot of eulogizing from teenagers who say that modern movies don't know what teenagers are about, but teenagers probably always would say that.To give the documentary a framework, the contributors to the documentary then set off to visit John Hughes at his home in Chicago, ostensibly to ask him to direct another teen movie. This charade is kind of annoying because it changes the focus of the documentary from Hughes to the film team, which we don't really care for all that much. Hughes of course doesn't come out to meet the camera crew, and later returns their letter without any further reply or comment. A short while after, he dies of a heart attack in New York City.The movies has its ups (the interviews with the actors) and downs (the eulogizing of the "good old times of teen cinema when actors didn't divulge their private life on Facebook"), but overall it was nice to get a bit more insight into John Hughes' work.

Im not dragging this out any longer than need be, so I will get to the point. The film sounded really interesting and like a fun watch, and delivered partially on my expectations. I am grateful that Netflix had the movie available, and like most of the content on there, it was sub par. I cannot believe how terrible the 'film crew' was in their lack of preparation, even though they continuously state the project was 2.5 years in the making. By the time the prospective 'meeting' with John Hughes came to be, I knew I had to write a review just to get the frustration out of me. I felt a sense of immense embarrassment for the 'crew' and was disgusted at how poorly they portrayed themselves as professionals. One would assume after the lengthy drive to Chicago and the even longer preparation (2.5 years..) they would have had the slightest idea what questions they wanted answers to, and what other topics they would want to discuss. The 'crew' had about as much sense as a group of 12 year old girls trying to track down Bieber.I will say that in the films defence, the editing of the stock interviews was done well, and whomever was responsible for that was the saving grace, for without them I would have given the film a 1/10.I hope the cast of the film has moved on to careers that would suit their capacities.. whether it telemarketing or rocking the sweet headset of a drive-thru.

I can't gloss over this review just because I love watching John Hughes movies, or clips from his movies for that matter."Don't You Forget About Me" is a documentary about 4 John Hughes fans that decide to hop in a van, drive to Chicago, and seek out the aloof Hughes.The clips from the films and the interviews from the stars and filmmakers like Kevin Smith were nice, and they were heartfelt tributes to Hughes, but there are two serious problems with this documentary.The first: Do you realize how easy it is to make a compilation of enjoyable moments from John Hughes films? I'm sure I could jump right over to youtube and find similar compilations.The second: So,.. you wanna make a tribute to Hughes... so you take a camera TO HIS HOUSE mind you(now everyone knows where he lives/lived)... and try to get an interview(unscheduled mind you) with someone who has obviously made a serious effort to avoid the media. I thought the whole idea was poorly thought out. They assembled a letter as well as a list of question to ask Hughes in seconds. That's the respect they had for their little documentary and for the director.The film offered little to no background or insight into Hughes' past. Instead the film makes huge assumptions that are gathered on the fly from 4 people who did NO RESEARCH other than seek out other directors and cast members to talk to.In the end, our 4 seekers offer nothing to this film other than the same emotions that nearly everyone has about John Hughes films. Even the kids they interviewed offered more insight.Was it enjoyable? Well, I didn't turn it off. However, this is something that anyone could have put together, and perhaps done it with a little more respect and panache. The problem is not so much the film as it is the idea of the film. It would have worked so much better if the whole 'searching for Hughes in the Van with a bunch of normal characters' idea would have been scrapped for an in-depth background and tribute that gave us more insight on John Hughes - after all, this was supposed to be a documentary about him.