This is a very strange film. On one hand it's perfectly entertaining, but it's so bizarre and - to be blunt - utterly far-fetched and beyond-ridiculous that it actually kind of distracts from the entertainment value at times. The plot is so dumb - and the way it's handled - that suspension of disbelief is pretty hard.
However, if you look at it as a realization of every teenage boy's fantasy, I guess it's all right.
It's essentially about two 15-year-old boys (Ilan Michael-Smith and Anthony Michael Hall) who "create" a woman using electricity, a computer and a Barbie doll.
This was my problem with the movie. John Hughes is usually great at character development and dialogue - but there's so little here. The setup is weak and the boys' decision to create a woman is handled waaaay too fast. And then the science behind their actions is ignored so much that it's almost insulting. The "hacking" of the computer mainframe that takes place during the Barbie doll's transformation into a human is classic '80s technology - they had no idea what a computer even was back then and as a result the "hacking" segment is basically an animated slideshow of cool images on the computer screen as Smith types noisily away on his keyboard.
Their result? The beautiful supermodel Kelly LeBrock, who promptly takes a shower with the boys (their clothes are left on, of course, but hers are not) and then teaches them how to be cool, get girlfriends and so on.
I was surprised by the amount of sexual content for a 1980s movie involving under-age teens. I've seen people say here on IMDb before that '80s movies couldn't get away with anything but that's not true. It may have been the Reagan era but this movie features 15-year-olds making out with a woman in her late '20s, sexual innuendo involving the woman (it's implied one of the two boys has some type of sexual contact with her during the first night), underage drinking, underage smoking, and then of course a classic scene that could never be filmed today - Anthony Michael Hall mimicking African-Americans in a seedy downtown bar.
I don't mean to sound like a prude, I was just shocked at how much they got away with for a 1980s, PG-13 John Hughes comedy.
The acting in the movie is decent. Anthony Michael Hall is a revelation, and his scenes as a drunk pimp in downtown Shermer are hilarious. He comes across as a true comical force, which I was surprised at considering he's not usually the leading man in films.
On the other hand, Smith is poor - he smiles throughout the movie, even when he's supposed to be scared or angry. Maybe it was his first acting job and he was nervous or in disbelief, but it's kind of annoying.
Bill Paxton is responsible for the movie's most memorable scenes. He is utterly hilarious and his scenes were usually the only ones I laughed out loud at.
Overall this is one of Hughes' weakest films and it's probably because it was one of his more early directorial works. In terms of character development, "The Breakfast Club" reigns supreme. The dialogue isn't that great and the movie is too short and spends too little time with its setup. It's entertaining if you're not looking for anything of substance, but I think if Hughes had tackled this a few years down the road of his career the result would have been a bit more intelligent and memorable.
However, if you look at it as a realization of every teenage boy's fantasy, I guess it's all right.
It's essentially about two 15-year-old boys (Ilan Michael-Smith and Anthony Michael Hall) who "create" a woman using electricity, a computer and a Barbie doll.
This was my problem with the movie. John Hughes is usually great at character development and dialogue - but there's so little here. The setup is weak and the boys' decision to create a woman is handled waaaay too fast. And then the science behind their actions is ignored so much that it's almost insulting. The "hacking" of the computer mainframe that takes place during the Barbie doll's transformation into a human is classic '80s technology - they had no idea what a computer even was back then and as a result the "hacking" segment is basically an animated slideshow of cool images on the computer screen as Smith types noisily away on his keyboard.
Their result? The beautiful supermodel Kelly LeBrock, who promptly takes a shower with the boys (their clothes are left on, of course, but hers are not) and then teaches them how to be cool, get girlfriends and so on.
I was surprised by the amount of sexual content for a 1980s movie involving under-age teens. I've seen people say here on IMDb before that '80s movies couldn't get away with anything but that's not true. It may have been the Reagan era but this movie features 15-year-olds making out with a woman in her late '20s, sexual innuendo involving the woman (it's implied one of the two boys has some type of sexual contact with her during the first night), underage drinking, underage smoking, and then of course a classic scene that could never be filmed today - Anthony Michael Hall mimicking African-Americans in a seedy downtown bar.
I don't mean to sound like a prude, I was just shocked at how much they got away with for a 1980s, PG-13 John Hughes comedy.
The acting in the movie is decent. Anthony Michael Hall is a revelation, and his scenes as a drunk pimp in downtown Shermer are hilarious. He comes across as a true comical force, which I was surprised at considering he's not usually the leading man in films.
On the other hand, Smith is poor - he smiles throughout the movie, even when he's supposed to be scared or angry. Maybe it was his first acting job and he was nervous or in disbelief, but it's kind of annoying.
Bill Paxton is responsible for the movie's most memorable scenes. He is utterly hilarious and his scenes were usually the only ones I laughed out loud at.
Overall this is one of Hughes' weakest films and it's probably because it was one of his more early directorial works. In terms of character development, "The Breakfast Club" reigns supreme. The dialogue isn't that great and the movie is too short and spends too little time with its setup. It's entertaining if you're not looking for anything of substance, but I think if Hughes had tackled this a few years down the road of his career the result would have been a bit more intelligent and memorable.