Don't You Forget About Me (2009) - full transcript

[CAR STARTING]

[MELLOW MUSIC PLAYING]

MAN 1: I've not seen or heard
from him in a long time.

MAN 2: I'm not gonna go there.

There's a lot of stuff
there that

is not my business.

MAN 3: He was... we're
not on camera. Okay.

MAN 4: I haven't spoken with
John Hughes since 1988.

WOMEN: I really, you
know, I don't know,

I'm sure he's doing fine.

♪ Some feelings
Are so simple



♪ But too hard to state ♪

I mean, there have been some
people who've said that

Hugh has abandoned

his teen audience
at a certain point.

He seems to have
kind of gone into

semi-retirement.

He just took his bat and
ball and went home.

Look at the kind of
thing that John did.

Where is that now?

He hasn't directed
a film since '91.

And he sort of went
like that to Hollywood.

He made five really
wonderful flicks

about being a teenager.

MICHAEL: I wanna start off
just with a little prayer.



I don't have anything
planned, but

ya, let's just hold hands.

KARI: You know
what this...

MICHAEL: Hands in
the middle. Hold hands.

MATT: No, no.

KARI: Hands in
the middle.

MATT: Hold hands.

This has been the best two
and a half years of my life.

And I wanna thank
all of you.

And um...

Whether we find John
Hughes or not,

I think the journey
is what matters.

And um...

And yeah, and also...

Look. Back
to van.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Are those
gonna stay?

No.

[CHUCKLES]
Oh, yeah.

It's actually
kind of perfect.

LENNY: Do we have one
for the other side?

KARI: Should we put
on the back, actually?

LENNY: I am suggesting we
should get on the road.

KARI: Yeah.

We're gonna find
John Hughes.

♪ Won't you come see about me?

[PEOPLE MURMURING]

MATT: Which way do
we go to get to the 401, man?

LENNY: Where,
a one way?

♪ Don't You

♪ Forget About Me

♪ Don't Don't Don't Don't

♪ Don't You

♪ Forget About Me

♪ Don't You

♪ Forget About Me

♪ Don't Don't Don't Don't

♪ Don't You

♪ Forget About Me ♪

MAN: Can you say what
we're doing, Matt?

We're on our
way to Chicago.

But yeah, we're on
our way to Chicago,

because that's where John
Hughes shot all of his movies,

and that's where John
Hughes currently lives.

♪ Maybe I was wrong to
Jump to the conclusion

♪ But I don't really dare to
Let lie my suspicions

About two and a half years ago,

Lenny and I

met to discuss the potential
screenplay we want to try.

And we both decided we
wanted to write

a teen film.

Now, we really want to make
something that was kind of

similar to the movies that we

grew up and loved,

and the fact that some are
John Hughes films.

So, the more we
racked our brains

to try and come up with
a John Hughes film,

the more we realized

how much of a genius
the guy was

and how impossible it is.

You know, like, if
you look at that

"Some Kind of Wonderful" DVD,

there is an actual interview
footage with Hughes.

And you're like, really?
That was the guy?

Aside from his,

you know, rock 'n' mullet

when you look at that
guy and be like,

that's the person
who's gonna speak

to teenagers like he's
fucking Jesus Christ.

I did say that John Hughes

was the philosopher
of adolescence.

And I believe that more now,

than I probably did at the
time when I wrote that.

What the hell are you
bitching about?

I gotta sleep under
some Chinaman

named after a
duck's dork.

Where am I sleeping?

Sofa city,
sweetheart.

[CLICKS FINGER]

John's real

sort of genius
is that he was

not afraid and he

created these,
sort of, comic

elements to allow
that to be

sort of heavy material,
but digested with

comedy in a way that people
can really relate to.

I, being like Salieri

and Amadeus,

filled with bitterness
and jealousy.

Thought how can he just
channel these things?

It's just amazing.

This is ridiculous,
okay. I'll go.

I'll go. I'll go. I'll go.
I'll go. With I'll go.

Shit!

[STARTS CAR]

He was creating
his own reality.

He was writing
and directing

the world that he
wanted to see.

Hughes was always a genius

at tapping into

the biggest hopes,
and fears,

and dreams, and insecurities,

and things that matter
the most to teenagers.

Your grandmother
has just passed.

What?

That's how he cast and

that's what he was
attracted to.

Was something kinda
off in people.

I think John was
a big old geek

in school. So
that was his

fantasy that, you know,

he would be the,

the geeky guy who,
nevertheless,

you know, ruled
the school, and

gets the girl,
that, you know,

and that would all
work out in the end.

[DRUM 'N' BASS MUSIC PLAYING]

ALLY: I think John

was writing characters

very often that were,

sort of him.

And how

he felt, you know,
how he operated.

I know there was

a lot of the feeling or
the experience of being,

the outcast and
underdog for him.

I think he's still probably
feels that way.

I don't even
count, right?

JOHN BENDER: I could
disappear forever,

and it wouldn't make
any difference.

KEVIN: Hughes was
just insanely gifted.

It's like going, "how
come people

don't write as well
as Shakespeare?"

It's like, well, there
was one Shakespeare.

That dialog is
important enough

that it can never be goofy

regardless of,

you know,

what we wear or
what kind of

missile comes
through our house.

You know.
[CHUCKLES]

[FIREWORKS BURSTING]

KELLY: You know, when the
mother is making the sauce

in one of the movies,
and ash is

falling into the

the meal, I mean, that's,

that's what he does best.

He paints the details

that other people don't
pay attention to.

John was a good writer.

And I think that's
everything.

We were a good combination

'cause I found kids
that had talent

to match his writing.

And nowadays,

they don't start with good
writing, and then they,

they don't get the talent.

I fell asleep on
his couch about

five in the morning
'cause John was

doing rewrites for "Some
Kind of Wonderful."

And when I woke up,

he handed me
fifty pages.

And he said... I said,

"What's this?

"We were just doing a couple
of pages of rewrites?"

You know.

He said, "Oh, I
didn't do that.

"I did something else, just
tell me what you think?"

And it was the first
fifty pages of

Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

And he did it in
like five hours.

He almost had
an assembly line

because he was
so proficient,

and so prolific.

And he had all of
these screenplays

pouring out of
his typewriter,

and maybe eventually
his computer.

The sportos, the motorheads,

geeks, sluts,
bloods, wastoids,

dweebies, dickheads.

They all adore him.

They think he's
a righteous dude.

I think Ferris Bueller
is a perfect movie.

I think if I had directed
Ferris Bueller , I would,

I'd call it a day,
you know.

I'd be like,
okay, I'm good.

MAN: These are artful films.
These are smart movies.

When look back on them,
they don't embarrass you.

A lot of 80's movies

do embarrass you.

He was a master,

you know, at what he did
and what he crafted.

And also wasn't really

thinking about it
as he did it.

You know, it wasn't like

Hughes said, "I'm
gonna set out

"to create a genre."

MATT: Then we kind of decided,
why don't we make a film

about two screenwriters

trying to find
John Hughes

to help them get
their film made.

Fast forward a couple
of months later

I realized that, that
would be stupid.

And that we should
actually not

make a fictional
film about it,

but a documentary.

We want to explore,

why we felt teenagers
were relating to

the John Hughes films of
the 80's more than anything

in the last decade.

[ DON'T TALK DOWN PLAYING]

♪ Don't

♪ Don't talk down

♪ To me ♪

My favorite Johny Hughes
film would have to be

Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Weird Science , yeah.

The Breakfast Club.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

That was an amazing movie.

I would have seen it

twenty times since
I was a kid.

You went and saw it,

'cause you actually want
to see the movie,

'cause it was well written
and well done.

I can see myself
more in that movie

rather than the movies
of today.

You can relate to
it really easily,

'cause it's just how
people are in real life.

There's the struggles
of actual high school.

It's very real. It
doesn't seem like

they took a bunch of
celebrities, and

dressed them up, and put
all this make-up on them,

and got them to go
and act for them.

And in The Breakfast Club,
you actually kind of

get to see

who that person really is.

Molly Ringwald had a really
natural look to it.

Why kids still
respond to these

films is because

he put his
heart into it.

There's something that was
very important to him.

So all these sort of

offbeat characters
like Cameron

or in Pretty in Pink, Duckie,

Jon Cryer's character.
These sort of

offbeat guys that had

problems.

I think that's all John, and
I think that's something

that he was

saying, you know, "Pay
attention to this."

The question that
keeps coming up on

this documentary is, well,
have you gotten Hughes?

Have you gotten Hughes? And

our answer has always
been we want this

to be a love letter
to John Hughes,

and we want John
Hughes to come back.

But it's kind of been
unavoidable, and I think

we've realized
the most important

thing to do here
is to actually

go and find the man
himself and,

and get the answers from
him if we possibly can.

What we found in
these two years is

how much of an
impact he has on

probably everyone
we've spoken to.

I think though he'll be
blown away by seeing

fourteen-year olds,
thirteen-year olds

saying I've watched
Ferris Bueller's Day Off

27 times.

KARI: Yeah.

Like I want him
to see that.

KARI: You don't usually
get a tribute like this

until you're dead.

Don't worry about
it. You're young.

Not anymore.

No one in my
estimation has

come close to what
John achieved.

Why do you think
it'd be easy?

For a while there,

you could say

teen movie.

And it wasn't
derogatory.

I'd say teen movie,
and you can go,

"Yeah, it's a
good movie."

For the first time
in my life,

I don't feel like
a total dick.

The category teen films,

that category is entirely
tied to the 80's.

Right now there are
very, very few movies

what I think
anyone, I mean

teenagers or really
anyone else,

can look at the screen,
and say,

"Yeah, that's me."

He put real life
people into movies.

That's why it worked.

Everybody felt akin.
Everybody knew somebody

who was on that screen.

Oh, why can't we start
old and get younger?

They can see themselves
and say,"You know, oh,

"I relate to that.

"I now know how
to conduct my life,

"based on how
these people did."

All the people I went
to school with were

like the people in
The Breakfast Club.

You know, they weren't
the other people.

You know, they
weren't the,

the cool normal people. It
was sort of, a school for

slightly not normal people.

My best friend
in high school

was a kid who
got, like

violent nose bleeds,
every twenty

minutes of the day.
You know.

Or another kid who
could tell you whatever

you need to know
about the Denver Broncos.

Molly was fifteen
or sixteen,

Andy Michael Hall was true.

That was another thing, they
were true to the age.

MIA: I was actually
seventeen. I mean,

if you can imagine your most,

like shaming, horrific
year in high school

is like,

immortalized in a very popular
movie for ever and ever.

That's how it
feels to me.

I guess I've been
subconsciously

kind of waiting for
that moment where

nobody has seen
the movie anymore.

And that moment
hasn't come, really.

There is something
kind of genius

in casting Molly Ringwald,

particularly in
Sixteen Candles

'cause she does look like

the average 16-year old girl.

She is not like

this gift from the heavens,

fucking knock out.

Now she doesn't look like
she was trimmed out of

Playboy, and they put clothes
on her or something like that.

She looks like a teenager.

KELLY: Molly Ringwald
had a lovely, fresh,

real look about her. And

today you've gotta
be, you know,

the extensions down
to here, or

boobs up to here,
you know.

Otherwise you don't
fit the criteria.

So you gotta wait
around an hour.

If I want to.

Do you know how
much damage we

could do to each
other in an hour?

I feel like a lot of these

young women, now they seem
really interchangeable.

Now all of a sudden they're
blond, they're...

The skinny blond anorexic
girl number one versus

the other one.

With the freckly one or
the one with no freckles,

one with the smaller
boobs, it just doesn't...

They all seem sort
of interchangeable.

I'm certainly
glad I am not

starting as
an actress,

now. I would
have lasted

probably like a
week and a half.

You just can't imagine

Molly Ringwald having
that kind of attention

in this kind of
the harshness

of the attention on young
actresses today.

Whether or not
it's courted,

you know, um...

It's really freaky,
and kind of

scary. I mean,
I can't imagine

trying to be
that age in

in that environment.

Don't analyze it.

Just go.

I think that there is some
lovely young actresses

out there now,
but the machine

immediately
ingest them,

and even if they do
something fantastic,

and the next week they're
on the cover of Vanity Fair,

in some lace panties,

with their hands down
their own pants.

You didn't know
how much blow

Molly Ringwald was doing
or what she was,

you know, if she shaved her
vagina or whatever, I mean,

just the amount
of information

that's available about
Lindsay Lohan was insane.

Have they put on weight?
Have they taken off weight?

Are they pregnant?
Are they not pregnant?

Are they dating?
Did they break up?

Are they back
together again?

It's kind of an

unwholesome spotlight.

That twenty-five years ago,

when Hughes was working,

his actors

had attention. They
got attention,

but not that kind
of attention.

♪ Don't

♪ Don't talk down

♪ To me ♪

I think a lot of the movies
today are almost cliche.

I find it hard to really
see a life behind

a lot of the characters
in today's films.

They don't really show like,
the middle, the average.

My life isn't as exciting as
the people who are on screen.

I don't think anyone's is.

One thing in particular that

teens have mentioned is that

they don't feel and

the teen males
in particular

were the highest
on this chart.

Um, that movies today,

they can't relate
to movies today.

The movies today
don't relate

to things going on
in their lives.

I can give you two
good reasons why not.

My mother and
my father.

They're married and
they hate each other.

The teen films of today

are certainly different
from John Hughes'

films of the eighties,
in that, uh,

they, for some reason, don't
respect the audience

the way Hughes did.

Uh, there was an intelligence
to Hughes' film.

There was an honesty to the
characters across the board.

When I watch teen
films today,

they seem to be caricatures
instead of the real thing.

The Hughes characters
and actors

that played the characters

looked like people you
went to school with.

You know, and you watch
a flick like that and

you're like, "I could
fucking tag that broad."

You know, "I can
probably get her."

Um, and I don't know
if girls think this way.

I doubt it, but I'm sure
they're sitting there

going, like, I could
fuck Judd Nelson,

or Anthony Michael Hall.

Although probably not.

The recent movies
are so slick.

The kids all seem to be

sophisticated beyond their

years, in a way that's not

entirely healthy.

[POP MUSIC PLAYING]

High school is nothing
like what high school

is like in movies.

Especially our school.

Teenagers now do
a lot of nothing.

I feel like they
build it up

a lot more than
it really is.

Most kids don't wake up and
get in their SL55, you know.

I definitely feel
like I'm not

well represented
in the movies.

I get good grades and
I don't think that's

shown, like, being smart
is not cool in movies.

I don't think I'm
represented at all.

I think that they're,

they're too fake.

Now guys in leads
in teen movies

are more like
the perfect guy.

They got the perfect
bodies, perfect face,

perfect hair. Everything
just seems so right.

It's all tits and
ass, really.

Everything is different.
The industry is different,

the audiences
are different.

The people we've
spoken to,

you could not go to
a studio right now

and bring them
Breakfast Club.

No, I think if you brought
Breakfast Club right now

to a studio
that's gripped.

They would be like,
they wouldn't know

what to do with it.

Too boring
they'd say.

When you grow up,

your heart dies.

Who cares?

I care.

So we had to depend
on very good actors,

and they had to depend on

his very good dialog

to make that into a

box office hit.

Even though you couldn't
really pitch that

to a studio head

and make it sound like it
would be commercial at all.

We heard something
kind of disturbing

at a studio meeting.

Where they said, you know,
we're casting a film and

we wanted it
to relate to

young audiences
and stuff.

And Napoleon
obviously wasn't

a studio movie. It was
completely independent.

So there really wasn't
any outside

creative push on it.
And I said, "High

"school students
are aspirational."

You should set the bar
for them in casting.

Little bit older
than they are

'cause they wanna
be older.

And that would taint every
other decision you make

on down the line when you're
doing creative development

for these characters and

that's I think the heart
of the problem.

It's become a lot
about bottom line

and um,

cost and eh,

what they hope to net.

Pre-sell things and

it's all about

not really about what
the movies is about,

it's all about

how much money
you can make.

When you make one
of these movies

you have to make it

for a certain amount
of money because

they can look at
now historically

and say, okay will
they top out at this.

So between the budget
and the P&A,

we can only spend
this because

this is who our
audience is.

The goal of when
you make a movie

is to try to
get, nowadays

because it's so concentrated
on opening weekend,

is to try to get as broad
appeal as possible.

You wanna get all
four quadrants.

And the four
quadrants are

males under 25,
females under 25,

males 25 and older

females 25 and older.

Most teen movies, I think,
are bureaucratic decisions.

Let's go after
that demographic

and make a movie
that'll appeal.

There hasn't been one
in a year, let's do it.

You know, it's not like
they come from a sense

of urgency to write
a character or

to write a
story about

something that
needs to be told.

I couldn't make even
Pump Up The Volume now

at the studio level.

It's too small.

The costs of making things
in a studio system are

so big they
have to be,

they have to appeal to
the broadest audience.

Today we're getting
teenage movies

that although you
see some good ones,

by large they
tend to be

movies with cheaper values,

more superficial characters,

more exploitation.

Bullshit, man.

Come on, Verne. Kids haven't
changed. You have.

I think that movies
are becoming

more and more like
theme rides.

Where they just sort of have
a beginning

middle and end and
instead of like up, down,

curve, [EXCLAIMS]

scary moment,
dip and then,

[EXCLAIMS] you're
over and you go,

"Shit, I just spend 17 bucks."

I have a theory, I think
John Hughes is coming back.

John Hughes writes under
the alias Edmond Dantes.

If you're familiar with
the film The Count of...

Not the film the book
The Count of Monte Cristo

[CHUCKLES]

MATT: The film
was good too.

The film was
good too, yeah.

The book is better.

What are you, a
100 pages done?

KARI: How familiar
are you with it?

You've done
five pages.

That's not true. I'm
at a 130 pages.

Edmond Dantes,

who is this
19 year old,

very talented sailor.

So basically he
gets framed

for being a Bonapartist.

And they send him to
the Chateau d'If,

which is an island of
the coast of France,

where he's imprisoned.
Edmond Dantes comes

back... See I
read the book.

KARI: Hah, he read
the close notes.

No, I read the book.

LENNY: Weren't you accused
of being a bonapartist?

Edmond escapes
the Chateau

fourteen years later
and he comes back

as the Count of Monte
Cristo. He wears a mask.

His goal is to
seek revenge on

the people that
have harmed him.

Molly Ringwald is actually
quoted as saying

[LENNY AND KARI LAUGHS]

I'm serious.

Molly Ringwald is
quoted as saying,

"He will have
the last laugh."

And I think that's
been true.

I think John Hughes is
waiting to come back.

John Hughes
is saying,

"He took from me, I was
making these stories.

"I was capturing
innocence. I was

"doing all these
things and I was doing

"it to bring joy
in story telling."

And it was taken
away from him.

Now he writes
some movies

and puts other people's
names on them

occasionally and
things like that.

He was this tough
guy to nail down

in terms of like, you don't
read many interviews with him

past that era when he was
actually making flicks.

He doesn't do commenter
tracks on his DVDs.

Party is over.

MAN: Party's over.
There's a girl.

Come on, get
out of here.

When you're hungry,

you don't have money
in the bank.

I think he probably has quite
a bit of money in the bank.

He loves his kids,
he loves his family.

Takes a big man
to step out

from something that fed
his pockets so well.

He didn't want

to have

to have to answer.

You know, he wanted to keep
doing the stuff he was doing.

HOWARD: I think he had

not a good experience
in Hollywood and he

cares about
the material

and his work
too much to

kind of like, have
it go through

the shredding machine.

They'll come back
and go now don't

we don't want to
do that, we rather

add another action
piece or, you know,

an exploding
toilet scene.

Well, Hollywood's in
terrible shape now.

You know, they are
doing remakes and

The studios are all owned
by corporations now

and so they are,

they are very product
oriented now.

KAPELOS: When I
first came to L.A.

he let me call my mother
one night after

a screening of
something in his car

and he drove.

You know, I was like

his enamorate of the whole,
you know, palm trees,

I didn't realize that razz
was on the top of it.

ALAN: It's more
comfortable for him

To make these things, to
make these entertainments.

To tell these
stories and then

keep his private
life private.

You don't understand
that it has

nothing at all to
do with you.

Maybe he feels

that the kind of
teenage movie

that does hit the box
office today is

not the kind of movie
he wants to make.

Hughes was always in the
underdog's corner.

He was always

rooting for...

let's say, that Judd
Nelson character.

And Molly Ringwald
in Pretty in Pink.

You reach a point

where your movies
are making

hundreds of millions
of dollars.

And that's start to
seem disingenuous.

And so, I think he
kind of gave up

because he realized

He just can't make those
movies honestly anymore

because that's not
who he is not anymore.

You are right, you're
absolutely...

Absolutely right.

I 'd say applaud the man
for the work he did,

and applaud the man
for the lesser work

that he never produced.

Like, the dude got out while
the getting was good.

[ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC PLAYING]

♪ I'll follow you around
From bar to bar

♪ I am driving you
Everywhere in my car

♪ It's all just a game

♪ I guess things have changed

♪ Wahoo ♪

I wanna test 'em out.
I wanna test 'em out.

Hold on.

All right, where're
you coming from?

MAN: We're going
to Chicago

where a film maker
named John Hughes

shot a bunch
of his films

and we're shooting
landmarks and stuff.

MICHAEL: How do you
guys all know each other?

MATT: Juvi, we're all
young offenders.

MAN: Okay, Matt.
Don't talk to Matt.

Matt you
sit back.

MICHAEL: Are you carrying
any alcohol or drugs on you?

I actually do have prescription
pills on me right now.

So maybe we should
mention that.

No, maybe you
shouldn't.

KARI: Maybe you should take
one and sedate yourself.

MICHAEL: Lenny, you have
to keep me calm here.

LENNY: Everyone stop
looking so guilty.

MICHAEL: Matt,
find the girl.

If it's a girl go
to the girl lane.

EVERYONE: No.

MATT: You picked this lane.

LENNY: Put all
the chutes down.

KARI: Pass him out
the passports.

MATT: Pulling this guy
over. We're in trouble.

Weird Science.

Now that was
a good movie.

Pretty in Pink,

Ferris Bueller's Day Off,

frankly the favorite film

of Richard Roeper,

my partner on this
television program.

RICHARD: It is a film
that I enjoy watching

over and over again
so, you know,

if people wanna go
around saying that,

I've said Ferris
Bueller's Day Off

is my favorite movie
of all time.

Fine. I'll stick with that.

The dude's an evergreen.

You can always look
in like, the top

one hundred at Amazon
and there'll be

one or more Hughes
titles in there.

No one goes to make

a film about teenagers

without drawing
from John Hughes.

No one goes to make
a movie about teenagers

without watching

a John Hughes' films again.

Watching one of his
films before you go

out to make a teenage film
is good and it's bad.

It's good in that, it's
an enormous influence.

It's bad in that

you kinda feel that
you couldn't really

quite do it as well.
I mean, there is

not much you could
do to do it better.

You know, that whole
time I was just

thinking things over.

I can't say with
absolute certainty

whether we were imitating

Hughes.

Or whether he had
captured us.

MICHAEL: Welcome to Michigan.

[CLASSIC ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]

LENNY: The first
film that I really,

that really got me was
The Breakfast Club.

Which is lot of people's
favorite. And I think

it was the first, I don't
know why I loved it so much

when I first saw it,
but I just like,

it was the one movie
I can watch over

and over and
over again.

I must have
watched it like

hundreds of times and
I could recite every line.

As I watched the movie
over the years

I was younger than them

but now I still watch it.
Now I am much older

than they were, so
it's kind of like...

it's that movies

captures a moment of
time in your life.

You knew everyone
in that group

'cause you know
everyone in high

school, like that.
People there are

like people you knew and
cause you all

talk like that, you've all
done those things.

KARI: He broke the silence
for everyone and

everyone watching,
it was like, okay.

Does that mean, everyone else
is feeling the way I am feeling,

maybe I can just

exhale a little bit.
It's not like

I watched The Breakfast
Club and I could

remember the defining
moment where I was like,

yeah that's the first
time I saw it.

I actually just don't remember
a time where those movies

weren't in
my life.

Watching them
now is when I

I really identify
with them more.

When you look at
The Breakfast Club

that's almost the My
Dinner with Andre

of teenage movies.
I mean, in a way

a group of kids,
in detention hall

on Saturday talking
for two hours.

That's basically it.

There was no plot
in Breakfast Club.

I don't think it felt like
there needed to be.

It was about getting down

to the inner lives
of the five kids

and that they in themselves
were interesting enough.

There just didn't have
to be any kind of

gimmick or anything else.

Well, everyone's home
life is unsatisfying.

ANDREW: And
if it wasn't,

people would live with
their parents forever.

Most people thought, "Well,
if they're gonna be kids.

"You know, maybe you should
show 'em, you know,

"practicing blow
jobs on a carrot."

But Hughes wasn't
doing that.

Dialog

for that particular
type of movie

is absolutely essential

because you're trading
in special effects,

you're not, you know,

putting your two-minute
nudity on the screen.

You're not, nobody is like,
sitting there and doing

kick boxing and
shit like that,

or no robots. So you're
missing out on like

stuff that would
make people come

see your flick
in first place.

So...

So.

It's one of those, like

quintessential, like

high school movies.

So, I don't
know, it just,

it captures high school
in a more realistic

way than anything
you'd see today.

John's movies

in words

should give respect

to teenagers.

You know, respected
them as sort of

complete whole
human beings

who were having as valid
an experience as

the 30-year old and
the 40-year old.

My dad had a video
store where he sold

previously viewed videos.

And at one time he
came home with this

box with Sixteen Candles.

"Matt, you should
watch this."

And I wasn't the most like
popular guy in high school.

I didn't realize
that Farmer Ted

was supposed
to be a geek.

Cause I thought
he was so cool.

And I felt confident
about myself.

I just remember wanting
every birthday to be

delivered with a cake
on the table with

Jake Ryan,

giving me that
birthday cake.

These theme songs are
things that are like,

you wanna show your kids.

It was my dad's,

one of my dad's
favorite movies.

It was just

on television, I think,

and I watched it.

And I watched it
again and again.

And again. [CHUCKLES]

'Cause it never gets old,

'cause it's relatable.

Everybody just forgets
this girl's birthday.

And instead of just,
"Oh, that's fine,

"I'll just have a pity
party and make myself

"feel better by eating
some cookie dough or

"something", which is what

they try to make it seem
like in movies today,

it's, this girl is genuinely
really hurt that nobody

remembered her birthday.

Eh, so even though it's
a chick flick I've seen it.

That was the movie
out of all of them

that stayed with me.
Sixteen Candles,

with Farmer Ted.

Where I, that was the first
time I saw someone

like myself and thought
that I was cool.

I loved Weird Science,
I saw that. But that

was my first
introduction

to Hughes and
then from there

I surfaced Ferris
Bueller's Day Off.

And I guess, I related so
much to that movie because

Ferris was in with
like, all the crowds.

He wasn't just in
with one crowd.

I played sports,

but, you know,
I wasn't the best.

I, you know, I was
in the drama club.

Just really related to this
person, who could just

bounce from one crowd to
the other, seems like...

My introduction to John Hughes
was actually

the movie Ferris
Bueller's Day Off.

And it was a life
changing movie.

Um, I think, I've
probably wanted to

be Ferris Bueller since
the moment I saw that film.

Even now, if I am
at a bar mitzvah

and I'm dancing to
Twist And Shout

I am closing my eyes
and I'm thinking,

I am Ferris, you
know, in the parade.

I'd no idea that
it would be

such an enduring

kind of anthem-like film.

I really had absolutely

no idea. No.

ALAN: I found it baffling
for a long time.

And I felt just like

I might as well just

wear that red wings jersey
for the rest of my life.

At the time I did not think
this was some, um

iconic film that we
would be discussing

in twenty years time.

I just felt pretty frankly

it was kind of silly,
because it's a,

it's a movie about a girl
going to a prom.

I mean, do people
wanna still see this?

And you know, clearly
I was right.

My favorite John Hughes
film would have to be

Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

They had so

many different characters.
They had the one

guy that was cra... Well
not really crazy but he was out

there so he wanted to do
everything, Ferris Beuller.

He was a popular guy,
who wanted to have

fun and there was
his nerdy friend

who always was like, "We're
gonna get into trouble."

I thought that was
cool, and then

the hot girl that
was just there.

Not only just there. She still
had her personality and she

shared her opinion and
basically they all clash

and they all got along
so, so well together.

When we talk about these movies
my heart's beating faster,

I'm getting like,
excited about it.

And when those kids talk about
it they get excited too.

But why are the current films,

no one gets like really really
excited about those movies.

You know what I mean?
It's a very different like,

our hearts are connected
to those movies.

See, like they say,
kids can't look up on

the screen and go
"Yeah, that's me."

Clerks for me came about

because I'd subsisted
on a heady diet

of big studio movies.

And with the exception
of the Hughes' stuff

never really saw myself
reflected on the screen.

You know, like, I love
the Die Hard movies but

I would never,

I can't identify
with John McClane.

You know, I wouldn't
shoot somebody,

I wouldn't jump off
the top of a building,

I would never take my fucking
shirt off in public.

So, how am I supposed
to look at that movie

and be like, "I am
like John McClane."

So, once in a while it's nice
to see something where you

see yourself reflected.
And that's what

those Hughes' movies did in

the mid '80's.
They kinda

gave us like a good three
or four-year run,

where on a Friday night,
we can go to the movies

and see ourselves up there.

After the '80's, I mean

I think the teen pop
kind of, fluff movie

kind of took a dive.

I don't even think they're
trying anymore, like,

I've never had
sex with pie

but I have skipped school
on occasions.

I think Hollywood is
trying to search

for a stereotype
of a teenager.

And they can't because
it's too diverse.

Most movies usually,
like teenage movies

usually revolve around

the popular girl
or a girl that

looks like she
could be popular.

They're all kind of like
plastic. They have no

personality to them.

They just are fake.

What was the most
important thing

that you learned from
a John Hughes film?

I don't think I can pick one

most important thing, there
were so many lessons

that he gives. It's
gonna be okay,

it's okay to be different.

I learned how to kiss.

I had all these
flashbacks of like

Pretty In Pink where
Eric Stoltz is kissing.

[ GLORY PLAYING]

♪ Burning rock

♪ In the palm of your hand

♪ Treat this place
As you're wont to

♪ I will make my land

♪ To comfort you ♪

MICHAEL: If somebody can
help me out of this.

[KARI LAUGHS]

KARI: Whoa, whoa.

[CLASSIC ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]

MATT: Welcome to Chicago.

MICHAEL: This windshield,
it sucked.

[MATT LAUGHS]

LENNY: What time is it?

KERI: Three thirty.

It should be open.

KARI: Can you do
wake up calls?

WOMEN: What do you need
a wake up call? Nine?

MATT: Nine thirty?

KARI: Oh.

[BOTH LAUGH]

Tail sliding, whatever
roll you're on

and everything.

What's happening, hot stuff?

To be honest with you,
I never really, eh,

did anything with
an accent before.

And so, I went to
a friend of mine,

who's Korean and I said,

"Can you kind of
help me with this?

"And try to figure out. Gotta
pull this off somehow."

They really though I was
from another country and

I acted like that, like I
didn't understand anything.

And I remember that

I fooled Jackie,

number one and
then I told her.

And then it was her
idea not to tell John.

And so I went in there,

you know, as the character
and I think it was like

a couple of days afterwards

I called Jackie
and I said,

"You know, maybe he should
know that I'm from Utah."

John didn't really describe
the role to me as much.

I sort of came in reading

Lisa as sort of a Mary
Poppins with breasts.

I likened her to somebody
with magical yet

very human like
qualities and

she had an affection
for these boys and

she didn't like to see
them being hurt.

Hello?

Showering is real
fun, isn't it?

Man, you got to kiss
Kelly in a bra?

And you were in
the shower with her.

That rocked, you know.

It was just not at all that.

It was like, okay, you know,

everybody's looking at me,
she's looking at me.

And if I look
at her boobs,

everybody is gonna see
me looking at her boobs.

And the kissing was
the same thing, like,

like over and over
and over again.

And the only real theme
throughout the whole day

was that everybody knew she
wouldn't be kissing me

unless she was getting
paid a lot of money.

And everybody was looking.

It's so like, what the hell
was that, you know.

When we were casting that,

it was down between
Anthony Michael Hall

and Eric Gurry.

He was the hot kid at the time,
not Anthony Michael Hall.

But then when Eric
Gurry came in,

he'd done an Al Pacino movie

and he was

real high energy.

And Anthony Michael Hall,
when he came in for casting,

who is, who I wanted,

was shyer, was a little bit,

he was funny but it was
much more innocent.

There's something
about that kid.

And after he got casted,

the relationship that
happened between

John and Michael is
what really bloomed.

A naked blonde walks
into a barn.

I said to John, "Why don't
I just be telling a joke

"and before I get
to the punch line I

"fall through the den?"

'cause we don't
need a punch line.

Make it rain he says.

[EXCLAIMS]

And we'd already shot my
line when I come back

down and I go

I forgot my pencil.

So me and John,

Mike and Emelia
were trying to go

figure out a joke whose
punch line would be that.

We tried for like
about an hour.

And then, you know, you
can't take that much time.

So I do a version
of it anyways.

So incredibly nasty.

It was just, it
was X rated,

it was, you know, Mel Gibson
could have written it.

So he goes, "I'll
not use that."

I go, "I know, I know.
That was just for me.

"Let me try one more."

So throw it all together,

make it up with some

walking through the thing and
then fall through the roof.

And a lot of times
people say,

"What's the plot sign?"
And I'm just like,

"There isn't one."

I was on the set of
Breakfast Club.

I went up to that high school

that he had turned
into a studio.

And watched them shoot
some scenes, and

talked to those young
actors that day,

and talked to John Hughes,

who said that

one of the reasons
that he moved

this whole operation
to Chicago

and use that high
school as a studio

and he used the gymnasium
as a sound stage.

Um,

it was that,

he wanted to get
the Brat Pack

or the Brat Pack wannabes,

out of Los Angeles.

Out of the place where they
can go out at night and party

and go to clubs and
see their friends.

He wanted them in some

crappy motel out by O'Hare,

where he could just,
kind of control 'em,

and bring them to this
location every day

and make them work.

Without all of
the distractions

of their own lives as
young movie stars.

ALLY: At different points
during the filming, um,

come up to each one of us

cause at different
points there was

focused more on one person,
and then, um, and,

he felt, like, at that point,

that one character was him.

You know, you're playing me
when I was in high school.

Um,

but he had that with all five.

The first part of
the first rehearsal

he has us all sitting
at this one table.

And I go, "I'm
not sitting here."

And he just goes, "What
do you mean?" I go,

"I'm not sitting with him in
the same table with them.

"Why should I sit with them?"

"Look, I've been in this
room every Saturday.

"I don't know what
the hell they do.

"I'm not sitting with them."

[MUMBLES]

And he goes, "Well, where do
you wanna... Well, okay.

"That's what makes sense to
me. Where do you wanna sit."

And I go, "Wherever he sits."

Pointed at Anthony
Michael Hall.

"What you mean?" I go,
"Whatever seat he picks,

"that's the one
I wanna sit in."

He was willing to

go, "Well, I don't know."

It's almost like, it seems
like sometimes directors

aren't supposed to
say they don't know.

By the way that clock is
twenty minutes fast.

JOHN: I did a whole
monologue of this,

to where they were gonna be
like twenty from now, like now.

Like in their thirties.

I told Judd that he was
gonna be, you know,

an overdose mental that
Molly Ringwald

is gonna be in a suburban,
you know,

soccer mom.

Anthony Michael Hall was
gonna be a,

a big broker, a big jag-off,
a big heart attack.

And they are all like sitting
there and I leave and

I've sort of given them
a glimpse into the future.

I don't want you
take me home!

Okay, why? What
is the problem?

Because I don't want you to
see where I live, okay?

John in no way was
married to the,

to the words at all.
I'd say, "What if

"I said that?"
And he'd go,

"Yeah, that's good.
Say that."

Totally, he was

not in any way wedded
to his words. He was

wedded to his, sort
of, the feel and

"Well, that's seems like
it's right. Yes, say that.

"Definitely much better, much
better, great idea, great idea.

"That raises the bar." He loved
to say, "That raises the bar."

HOWARD: John is a director and

frankly, I don't think he really
ever loved directing.

You know, he loved writing.

And I think he directed to

protect the material
on the character.

I think that one of the things
he would end up doing

when he directed.
For instance,

he told me once in
Planes And Trains,

Steve Martin

had a criticism about
some scenes.

And I saw John. He told me
this, I happened to be there,

I saw him go into his trailer.

And rewrite the whole scene.

Now I could never do that.

I would fight with the actor,

because I don't have the talent
to rewrite the scene.

Where John was so open,

and available, and as a

writer,

capable of changing it and

adapting it to what that story
wanted that he would.

It was easier than fighting.
He didn't like confrontation.

Let's go find John Hughes.

That's what we're doing today.

Get some breakfast.

Maybe a club.

Breakfast? Yeah. No,
I want a big breakfast

for this one.
More like a...

I want an American breakfast.

Denny's breakfast
or like an IHOP.

Yeah, some buttermilk
pancakes.

MICHAEL: Buttermilk pancakes.

MATT: Sunny side
up eggs, bacon.

MICHAEL: Eggs, bacon.

MICHAEL: I do think that this
would be a really good place

to start to, to find him.

MATT: That's why
we're here.

I think Starbucks 'cause
it's like a local place.

Feels like the people around
here went to high school with

the guy or something.
Like, it's like...

KARI: The people around here
went to high school with...

WCCO.

I think we should
stake out the house.

I don't want to start the day
banging on his door.

I'd like to try and get as much
information as we can.

Like is he well known
in his home town?

Do people know
who he is.

Because this area,
I don't think is...

I'd love some more coffee,
please. Thank you.

Yeah, I'm actually enjoying
this cup of joe.

KARI: It's like, no mater
what you're trying to say,

that comes out awkward
instead of cool.

[LAUGHS]

Who are you?
Archie?

Did he do say [MUMBLES]

No.

I would have thought
because of the way

He did Breakfast Club,

Okay, yeah.

Pretty In Pink, Some
Kind Of Wonderful

Oh, wait.

Ferris Beuller's
day off.

I might have to go
with Breakfast Club.

They're still in cable,
all of them.

And you turn 'em on
and you keep 'em on.

You never change it.

Is there anybody in this
restaurant right now

who would have
someone like,

have a good understanding
of the history of this area?

And who might know who
he is or where he is?

She might.

MICHAEL: This lady over here

is gonna have some
gems, gold mine.

We could go
anywhere.

Did you try
the Internet?

Okay, great, thank
you so much.

Do you know him?

Oh, I know him, yeah.

He did a lighting for...
Remember a movie,

it wasn't very successful.

Jim Belushi, did
with a little...

Curly Sue.

Curly Sue.

That was John
Hughes' last film.

Yeah, so I got out there
and I talked to Belushi.

As much as I sometimes
doubt that when it came

down to the person
sitting behind us

had actually gone to high
school with the person

who did all the lightings for
all the John Hughes films.

I was very surprised
the first time I received

a fan letter from Scandinavia.

And so many other

cultures that we think are
so different from ours.

That a movie like Breakfast
Club showed them, you know,

we had a lot in common.

He was about high school.

He was about teenagers.

It wasn't quite corny.

It could have been just funny.

But there was this melancholy,

that made all of his movies

beautiful,

aesthetic,

sensual and optimistic,

hopeful, sad and blue.

I know that there are
a lot of directors now

that really pay great
homage to John.

Dogma, there's a,
you know, big

joke in Dogma or
really like a,

kind of B plot about how

the Jay and Bob characters
wound up in Illinois

was 'cause they
were looking for

Shermer Illinois as depicted
in all the Hughes' movies.

Fucking Breakfast Club.

All these stupid kids actually
show up for detention.

Fuckin' "Weird Science".

Where this babe wants to take
her gear off and get down

but oh no she don't
because it's a PG movie.

And then "Pretty in Pink"

which I can't even watch with
this tubby bitch anymore.

'Cause every time it gets to
the part where the red head

hooks up with
her dream guy,

she starts to sobber
like a little bitch

with a skinned
knee and shit.

The John Hughes films
are classic movies and

we wanted to pay
homage to them

because obviously
we felt like

they've stood the test
of time and even

today's audience who
watches teen movies,

you know, still watches them
on cable and rents the DVDs.

Twenty years ago

five teenagers sat divided
in a high school library

condemned to eight hours of
detention with nothing to do,

[AUDIENCE CHEERING]

but figure out

who the hell am I.

When were gonna do
that thing for MTV,

when they spoke to
me about it, I said,

"Well, you reached Hughes?"

And they were
like, "No."

Writer┃Director John Hughes'

1985 classic remains an
enduring story.

Reflecting the good,

the bad, and the

ugly

of teenage wasteland.

Tonight we are here

not to punish
The Breakfast Club

but to honor it.

To etch it's name into
movie awards history and

on to our silver bucket
of excellence.

I go, "Well,

"you might wanna
at least try.

"If you want all of
us to show up,

"you get him. We'll
definitely,

"I'll show up. We loved
working with him.

"He shows up somewhere,
we'll be there."

Then the guy was like, "Well,
maybe I should do that."

Yeah, yeah, maybe
you should.

I had no idea that we would be
here twenty years later.

And it would all
still mean so much.

And I just wanna

really acknowledge

somebody that

should be here, I wish he
was here tonight. Um,

John Hughes.

You know, without him
we wouldn't be here.

[AUDIENCE CHEERING]

Where are you?

Where are you?

Where were you?

Well, do you know
where he is?

So we go find him.

We have to think about
two things. One,

we don't want
to tip him off.

But I do think we need
to do a little research

before we just ambush
his house like

mid afternoon
lunch time.

MATT: I don't like
the word ambush.

But it isn't an ambush, Matt,
he doesn't know we're coming.

There's other words
better than ambush.

Stalking?

No.

The drop by?

Going to his house
to tell him, that we

like, tell him how much
his films mean to people.

Here's what we
have to remember.

We've been living this for
two and a half years

and we're in it. He has
no idea who we are.

He doesn't know who
we are. He doesn't care.

He doesn't wanna
talk to people.

So the fact that we're
coming to his house,

which is like
his domain,

that's a total invasion
of privacy. So we're

gonna have to handle
it very delicately.

That's what I am saying

it needs to be treated
very delicately.

'Cause I don't want him

to be like complete
invasion of his privacy.

KARI: So, yeah.

Now I think we

do some research, like
go to the Starbucks,

go wherever, get some
information delicately.

That again like what
Kari was saying

is express two things if
we even do get to him.

Which are, we're
doing this because

there is a love
for him and

a demand for him that
maybe he's not aware of

but we wanna make him
aware of it, that's all.

Yeah.

My only concern is getting
to that point.

What's our opening

without having
this man be like,

"Get the fuck off
my property."

Genuine honesty, why not
just go to him and be like

John, we've spent,
you know,

two years of our
lives doing this.

Doesn't matter.

He didn't ask us to.

I think we just show up and
really like to talk to you.

Everyone wants
to talk to him.

If somebody showed
up at my house

and was like, "Hey I
just wanna talk to you."

I'll be like ,"Well, fucking
call me or send me an email."

Don't you show up at
my door and do that.

These circumstances
are different though.

You know, for me it's like,
if we go to the door

and you know, we're very
respectful about him.

We're like, "Hey, we
just wanna talk."

And he says no,
well, that

reveals a lot about
John Hughes as well.

That's the inside
into the man's...

MATT: No, we can't
hold that against him.

If he's like
"Guys get off."

We just wanna deliver
you a message.

We'd love an interview
from you, so,

we just wanna give
you a little sample

of what we've been working on
for two and a half years.

Hence the fact that
we're filming this.

LENNY: I though we agreed that
we weren't gonna give him

a cut of the film.

I feel like it's our
last chance.

This is what I would do.
We go far away in our

inconspicuous
FBI looking van.

That would send Kari,

with a note.

I think the
letter's really...

I'm getting to it.

With a letter
and a cut.

And if she gets to
speak to him for

thirty seconds, which
is very unlikely.

But our best chance of
him answering is

Kari walking up, "We're
here to deliver this to you."

I think he's gonna
be receptive to it.

If he's home, you
should go to the door

and anything
else is gravy.

Do you think like maybe
the cripple factor might help?

No.

If I went with
Kari and just...

I think one person.

Look, if he engages,
just walk out.

Of course. Yeah, listen we're
not stalking a deer here.

[ROCK 'N' MUSIC PLAYING]

Music was always an
important element

in John Hughes' films.

And now we take it
for granted that

if we're gonna see
any kind of a

teen comedy, we're
gonna hear a lot of

hipster bands and the soundtrack
is gonna be very important.

If you go back before
John Hughes,

you realize, you didn't
have that in movies

very often until then.

I think a lot more people
learned about Oingo Boingo

through seeing weird science.

Then what have occurred
had they not been

in the film at that point.

He would take

like, Mathew and Allen down
to the record store

on the weekends and
they would buy like

five thousand records.

Hughes' flicks

tend to make pop culture
references that are very,

very broad. Like,
if you're watching,

you know, Ferris
Beuller's day off

and the car takes
off over head,

over the camera and
you're hearing the

Star Wars theme.

Where Hughes tend
to be more specific

is the use of music.

If You Leave by OMD,

it's not like OMD ever broke
out after Pretty In Pink

and the moment you hear
that song on the radio,

if you're like me, you're
like, "Oh, 1986."

They viewed music as a tool

to promote the film.

Any film that had anything
special about music

that wasn't a musical,

was because the director

loved music. Which is
John Hughes. I mean,

John Hughes' whole
thing was

he loved music probably
as much as he loved making film.

I remember John coming
to the set and

talking about all this music
and stuff that he was gonna

put in the movie and
find these songs for us.

I was just sort
of amazed, like...

It really did generate
a new feeling

within the film industry.

That you can make a film

that could reach
a teenage audience

like this on such
a large level.

With the music
and the film.

His music is
incredible.

He was, he said he wrote
the first script of Breakfast

Club in like one weekend.

Sitting in a room, listening
to music and stuff

He was like the first guy,
psychedelic first.

I don't know if you knew
about the psychedelic first.

He seemed to know what music

most kids in high school
were listening to.

Then, then like, tonight.

What they were gonna go home
and what they were gonna play.

He knew. He might even have
known before they did.

The record company
at the time came

and they said, "There's
this movie coming.

"To be part of the sound
track of this movie

"would really
put you up.

"And at a kind of place
where you wanna go."

So we meet with
Simple Minds

and it's kind of like
a lot of tension.

Because they don't
want to do this.

You know, what, they're gonna
sing somebody else's song?

The producer

of what became the song,

Keith Forsey, turned up.

Saying, "You gotta do my
song, it'll be great,

"it will be number
one and stuff.

"I know Billy Idol."

Out of frustration
I went into this

Jordan Harris' office.
I slammed the door

and I said, "Look,

"you've got to make simple
minds do this song.

And he said, "Look, what
have you got to loose?

"Try the song."

Jim said he wanted
to redo the lyrics.

But you can't
redo the chorus.

The chorus
has to stay.

♪ Don't you

♪ Forget about me ♪

We didn't have an end
for the song and

we thought, "Well, we'll
just break it down."

But I don't have any words, so

they took it down,

came up with this great,
great crescendo

and left me with
nothing to sing

except la-la-la.

♪ La, la, la, la, la

♪ La, la, la ♪

It was the song that
was never meant to be.

[ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]

♪ Ones you love

♪ Are the ones you burn

♪ Being here

♪ Being here

♪ Being here

LENNY: Dumb ass, you
don't know your north,

south, east and west?

MATT: Dude, if I go up
this way, we're gonna

go back to west. Like west
is where we have to go.

But you're not sure.
Just turn right and

you're flooring
it, basically.

That's what I'm trying
to explain to you.

You don't know where
you're going.

So I noticed a similarity
between a whole bunch of

the houses that he
uses in his films.

National Lampoon's vacation,
Sixteen candles

European vacation, Christmas
vacation, weird science

Ferris Beuller's day off,
Planes, trains and automobiles

Uncle Buck, Home Alone, Home
Alone 2 and Home Alone 3.

All the houses are nice upper
middle class, red brick,

or white with black or
white shutters.

He uses all like the same
image of this house

in all of these movies.
Maybe his house looks...

He probably grew
up there, man.

You ever complement
him on anything?

Many critics attacked
John in his movies.

Critics looked at it as

here's the latest

you know, installment

from John Hughes.

And I don't thing they
were overly cruel,

but I don't think they
were overly enthusiastic.

I just think it was like

nice little comedy

about some kids running
around Chicago.

Right now

Pete starts by reviewing
John Hughes' newest film

which is about a kid who
takes a day off from school.

I was very disappointed by
Hughes' new film called

Ferris Beuller's Day Off.

I definitely think
that he deserves

a critical reassessment.

And I was reading
contemporary reviews,

of his movies.

From, written in
between 1982

and 1989.

And I was surprised how

They treat 'em like they're
Rob Shiner movies.

They just did not
get the respect

that I thought they would get.

Ferris Beuller doesn't
do anything much fun.

They attacked them, they
ripped them to shreds

and they did no
respect for them.

Now, it's about 25
years later

and they talk about
the great teen movies.

That thing doesn't
thrill me and

the story would be simple
enough to do well.

But Matthew Broderick has
nothing special to say

when he looks her
straight in the eye.

You know, at the time, had
they been a little bit more

supportive of those movies,
then John perhaps,

John would still be here.

Working in the system
and writing movies.

You know, a part of the reason
I think that he felt like

he didn't want to do it
anymore or he had to escape

was because of how
these critics

treated his work.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry that I was
so tough on you.

MICHAEL: You haven't heard
of a film maker named

John Hughes,
have you?

Of course.

Do you know if he
lives around here?

Does he live in
Lake Forest?

Do you know the film
director John Hughes,

who wrote and
directed those films,

lives here

Have you ever heard
anything about him or...

Um, the name is
really familiar.

Hey guys,

can I talk to you
for one quick sec?

Sorry to bother you, we're
doing a documentary

about a film maker
named John Hughes.

Have you heard
of John Hughes?

Yes.

Do you remember
that he might have moved.

Um, I don't know. I just
know he lives, like,

over there somewhere.

BOY: What are
you guys doing?

KARI: We're creating
a documentary. Have

you guys ever seen the movie
Ferris Beuller's Day Off?

EVERYONE: Yes!

How did you know about
Ferris Beuller's Day Off?

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

KARI: Do you guys see if
they make movies like

Ferris Beuller's Day Off today?

BOY 1: Nothing really like
with that kind of a story.

BOY 2: Not that
good of a plot.

BOY 1: That's like
an amazing plot line.

So what are the questions that
we have for John Hughes?

So, questions for John

if we're sitting in his
family room chatting.

Eh, we have, why
did you leave?

Will you ever
come back?

Do you know how much
you're missed?

How much of your life ended
up in these films?

We know what you thought of
the films that came before

you made teen films.

What do you think of
the films that came after?

We've asked the teens to
give a message to you.

What is your message
to the teens?

I think we should all just in
our own head have something

that we would wanna
say to him personally.

We're gonna go to an Italian
restaurant called Ferentinos,

a pizza place where apparently
John Hughes orders pizza from.

Let's see what kind of
information we can dig up.

Let's go.

MATT: So we hear this is the
best place to get some pizza.

MICHAEL: We also heard
something else.

MATT: John Hughes comes
by and orders pizza, yeah?

MAN: He was in here,
let me see, last week.

MATT: Last week?

MICHAEL: Last week?

Sometimes it's like
twice a week or so.

KARI: We're actually heading
over to his house soon.

So we'd love to order
a pizza to give it to him.

Oh, okay, all right,
no problem.

KARI: His usual order.

MAN: He orders like
a medium thin cheese.

MICHEAL: Yeah, maybe
the address, I don't know.

MAN: If you guys got
a minute I could...

Do you guys have
his address?

MAN: I can't really give it.

KARI: No, no, no, yeah.

KARI: Well, we
have it. We do.

MAN: Let me eh, go
get this order, okay?

MICHAEL: Okay, cool.

MAN: Everyone together here?

KARI: Yeah.

MICHAEL: He might be calling
him to be like there's eight

guys showing up
at my pizza place.

MATT: That is possible.

MICHAEL: That is
totally possible.

MATT: We're hot
on his scent.

That's for sure.

[ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]

MICHAEL: This is it, guys.
Wait, hold on.

Just keep going Matt.

See.

WOMAN: We definitely
passed that house.

That was only
the second one.

KARI: This one?

WOMAN: Yeah.

MICHAEL: So let's make another
pass of the house just so that

we know exactly.

I think that Lenny was right,
I think it was the second house.

KARI: Yeah, I think it was
the one on the corner.

MATT: I think it's
this one right here.

KARI: Yeah.

MICHAEL: Yeah,
this is it. Yeah.

MICHAEL: Let's
park it right here.

KARI: No, no, no.

MICHAEL: Pull up into
the island here.

And let's just get our
bearing and get out.

So we should walk
to the house,

we'll stay out of the view,
you go in with the pizza.

KARI: I feel like we almost
should forget the pizza.

MICHAEL: No, bring
the pizza.

LENNY: I guess that ambushes
hates the Portinos guy.

KARI: It does. I don't
want to do it.

LENNY: And then he'll think the
portino's guy gave the address.

MATT: Yeah, yeah,
I agree, I agree.

It's not worth it.

Oh, that's
cool. All right.

MICHAEL: This maybe too close.
Let's get out of the van.

MICHAEL: Drop your purse, forget
about anything that's going on.

LENNY: If Kari's going up there
to say, "I'm not filming."

And he's not a stupid guy.
Why don't we just

have her go up first.

KARI: Because if he says no,
then we wont use it.

MICHAEL: Do you think it's worth
having her go up first?

LENNY: Because if she says,
"No, I'm not filming."

and he sees the laugh,
that could be

the deal breaker
right there.

If he says, "Are you filming

"it?" She'll say, "Yes."

LENNY: Okay good. That's
all I'm saying.

We have to follow Kari up to
the house though right?

LENNY: We'll stay
off the property.

MICHAEL AND LENNY: Yeah.

Let's just go and
see what happens.

MICHAEL: Let's just
walk up and

stand outside there
at the driveway.

He wants the camera off,
we'll turn it off.

Let him see your eyes though,
take the shades off.

KARI: I will, I will.

No, no, no, shades
out all the way out.

Are you guys going in
the van 'cause we can...

MICHAEL: No, we're
gonna walk by.

But we're going to hide. We're
gonna sort of stay

in the back bushes. Look,
the camera is there.

It's all good. Hold on,
hold on, hold on.

Quick, quick,
quick. Let's go.

Hands in. Two
and half years.

MATT: Two and a half
years right here.

MICHAEL:
John Hughes.

KARI: Please say yes.

MICHAEL: Please say
yes. Here we go.

MATT: Please say yes.

LENNY: Please be home.

MICHAEL: All right, one,
two, three.

[EXCLAIMS]
Let's go.

You got
this, Kari.

KARI: What am I saying?
[CHUCKLES]

KARI: Guys, you should
stay. Fall back.

MICHAEL: Lenny, we've come
this far. We can't go back.

Go.

Focus.

WOMAN: Hello.

KARI: Hi, yes, I have a message
for John Hughes.

Hi, John, I'm Jason Reitman.

You have no idea
who I am.

Eh, however, I grew up
watching your films

and I'm a die hard
fan of Ferris Beuller.

Give me a call, John.

I love that film. Thank
you for making that film.

Hi, John. I hope
you're well.

Thanks for
everything.

For me it's kind of a cinematic
expression of pure joy.

Well, I just hope
he's well. You know.

I can't help it, there's
something delicious

about the way you feel
at the end of that film.

The way you feel when
Ferris starts dancing.

And I hope to god, you
make another movie

that makes me feel
that way again.

Thank you so much.
[CHUCKLES]

You're a God to us.

Yes!

Thank you.

I would be loved to be
involved in anything he

does. You know, and a lot
of people would.

Thank you for
Kelly Le Brock.

I think I would put in
a call to John Hughes

and see what
he's up to.

And see if he has any
screenplays in his desk

drawer that he would
like for me to read.

My message to John
Hughes would be,

"Thank you very much
for actually making

"movies that portray how
teenagers really are

"rather than glamorizing
their problem."

I miss you very much.

I'm tired of talking
to you in my mind.

You know, I'd like to
talk to you in person.

[SMIRKS]

I'm so sorry for being
such a, a kind of a jerk

on that movie
and I wish you

well and I'm very
grateful for having

been in that movie.

There's a void

that you left

whether you like
it or not.

I think that you should

have a say in
every single

teen movie that
comes out today.

They need your
guidance, John.

Without you I wouldn't
have made

Clerks, Mallrats and all that
shit that I've done.

So, if you hate
those movies,

you have no one but
yourself to blame.

I can come to Chicago.

I know where Chicago is.

It's a windy city.
I can get there.

Come on, it's probably
you and just Cusack

hanging out all the time.
That's not right.

Find someone, find
a prodigy and

you know, like lead them,

show them your ways.

Help them to come
and talk to us.

And do an interview every once
in a while, for God's sake.

I'm built like a table,
all leg and no movement.

I can't play any sports
and thanks to you,

you made that cool.

EVERYONE: Come
back, John Hughes.

Come back, do anything.

Write, direct, produce,
it doesn't matter.

Come back and save
teenage films, please.

WOMEN: Okay, hold
on just a minute.

Thank you.

I have a package
for Mr. Hughes.

WOMAN: Oh, no, he's not eh,
I mean, he's not home.

KARI: He's not
home, okay.

KARI: Um, you know what,
maybe I'll come back later

so I can out it in
a proper envelope.

KARI: So I was just
gonna talk to him.

WOMEN: Oh, okay. Yeah.

WOMAN: He's not
home right now.

KARI: Okay, thank you.

WOMAN: All right.

So I don't know
if he is home

and she's just
covering for him.

But he could be like watching
from that window

and we're standing here
with a fucking camera crew.

So, I think we should
write the letter

and just drop it off.

MATT: Yes.

KARI: I said I was
gonna do that.

MICHAEL: Oh, no, somebody's
in the window, look.

MATT: No,
don't. No.

No, it's okay.

KARI: No, it's okay.

KARI: Where's
he going?

LENNY: That's just like,
peeping through windows.

KARI: Get Facc
over here. Facc!

Facc!

Just saw somebody
in the window.

I feel like, maybe if
I went up to the door.

I don't know, like...

KARI: Get Facc
over here.

Perfect, we get
another chance.

LENNY: I think the letter
should just be, "To John,

MATT: "To John, where
have you gone?"

KARI: No, we, you know, "We're
sorry for your intruso."

MATT: The letter
should be short,

it should be
heart felt.

I think it should end
with each one of us

LENNY: No.

KARI: No, it's
so lame, Matt.

LENNY: All right, Matt?
A real letter to him.

KARI: I think we should
just be who we are

and not try and
imitate him.

KARI: Okay let's
hit the letter.

Okay, let's hit the letter.
Let's write it here.

Right here, now.
Kari comes back,

We'll stay back
more I guess.

KARI: And at the end
of the letter say,

"We would love to interview you,
we are in Northbrook for a day.

"Please call us if you're
willing to talk to us

"on or off camera.

"We just wanna meet you after
two and a half years of

"getting to know you."

"Dear John,"

MICHAEL:" Dear john."

MATT: "Dear john."

"We're sorry if we're intruding
in your personal space

MICHAEL: "We're independent
documentary film makers."

LENNY: Wait, please.

LENNY: Please wait.
I can't...

MICHAEL: All right.

LENNY: So what's
the first line?

"Dear John,

"sorry for the unexpected

intrusion." You know, whatever
you wanna call it.

MATT: "We've
spent the last

KARI: "two and a half years
making a documentary

"about the impact that
your films have had

MATT: "on an audience that

KARI: "spans over
three generations."

Does that make sense?

"Well, for the last
two and a half years"

KARI: We've already
said that.

MICHAEL: We have?

Okay, read it
out loud.

MATT: "Dear John, sorry for
the unexpected drop in."

KARI: "We're here for a day.
If you can reach out to us

"in any way, we'd love
to just speak to you."

MATT: Comma.

KARI: "We understand

KARI: "and respect
your privacy."

MATT: Yeah.

LENNY: Somewhat.

KARI: "Here is
our last cut.

"Here is a rough cut.

KARI: "of our documentary.

KARI: Make rough
in caps.

MATT: "If you would
sit down with us,

"we would be
grateful.

Should we say that
like, "We miss you."?

MICHAEL: Yes, yes, no
I think we should.

KARI: No.

KARI: It's 'cause I don't think
he's gonna respond to cheese.

MATT: This is a strong
ending though.

"We're here until tomorrow,
if you'd sit down with us

"that would complete our film."

Thank you.

The Don't You Forget
About Me team.

KARI: That's it, yeah.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

Thank you, John.

Good letter.

Good letter.

Organic.

Good letter, organic
and you know what?

MICHAEL: Let's just
stay here this time.

Let Kari go, try again.
Give him the letter.

See, I'm glad you
thought of that.

LENNY: Go, Kari.

MICHAEL: Go, Kari.
Go get 'em.

Hey, I'm feeling good.
I'm feeling good.

LENNY: Who wants
a slice of pizza?

[ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]

KARI: So six weeks later
after the road trip,

we were waiting for
a response and kind of

never thought
we'd get one.

Do you think there's
something in there.

What do you think
is in there?

If he actually went

to the truck, he didn't toss
it in the garbage, like--

I think he called
his lawyer

[CHUCKLES]

and his lawyer said

send it back.

In my heart of hearts,
you know, I'm, I

I hope that there's
a letter saying,

"Watching, good
job guys." But,

I just, I just don't think there
is... I think it''s the DVD and,

maybe, I don't know.

I just think it's the DVD.

I'm gonna believe
that he watched it.

KARI: Just open it.

LENNY: Just open the
freaking baggage.

MATT: Hand written letter,
hand written envelope.

LENNY: No, it's
just an address.

MATT: But the could be
Hughes' handwriting.

KARI: no, no, no. You don't
need to test anymore.

We're opening it
right now.

MATT: Our letter.

It's our letter.

LENNY: Maybe he wrote...

LENNY: So, I think
it's safe to say

we're not getting
an interview.

It can still happen.

MATT: I've been, really
been trying to find out

why he's hiding.

I think it's more
about us like,

viewing like, validated that
everyone feels the same way

that we do.

KARI: And it is self indulgent
on everyone's heart.

And everyone says, "Oh,
when I have enough,

"when I have enough. But
we never have enough."

LENNY: There's no mystery
maybe, like maybe it's just

he made amazing movies
and now he's happy,.

KARI: Enjoying his life.

LENNY: I think there's
no other film maker

that's been so influential

on not only film
making but like

people.

I know it's a big
statement but, like,

I swear, I think that a 100%.

So is our message really that
we want you to come back.

KARI: No, our message is
thank you and enjoy.

You deserve it.

MICHAEL: But we want him
to come back. We do.

KARI: No. [CHUCKLES]

MICHAEL: But I do. I do
want him to come back.

[EERIE MUSIC PAYING]

♪ Some feelings are so simple

♪ But hard to state

♪ And I know it's too late

♪ To say it but I change my

♪ Ways

♪ The sun is coming up

♪ My plane is going down

♪ The sun is coming up

♪ My plane is going down

♪ The sun is coming up

♪ My plane is going down

♪ The sun is coming up

♪ My plane is going down

♪ The sun is coming up

♪ The sun is coming up

♪ The sun is coming up

♪ The sun is coming up

♪ The sun is coming up ♪

[ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]