Library of Fools

Rating: Null/10 (13 December 2002)

Spoilers herein.
I don't know the family tree of this genre: unlikely characters are confined together, they reveal themselves and (usually) superficially are transformed. Here, we have kids in a movie for kids. The genre is particularly straightforward and easy to read, so it is particularly apt for the target.
My own theory is that High Schoolers have seven archetypes to choose from for each sex. Here we have the five-choice-total theory convincingly argued, through they toned down the sexpot significantly. That severely dates this, no teen film today would assume the popular princess to be a virgin.
I suppose some people will enjoy this, considering it sweet or cute. My own interest is in these archetypes, particularly the redhead. Sheedy was originally cast to play the princess I understand and at the last minute Hughes fired a girl, shifted Sheedy and inserted Molly. Hughes had already worked with her: she was in the middle of something of an intelligent career, playing (before this) the Miranda in a loose adaptation of The Tempest and (afterward) the Cordelia in a truly sophisticated version of `Lear.'
Why she would be featured in a Hughes-type movie is a no-brainer: she's charming. But why he would shuffle things around here for her is a braintwister. The film is about stereotypes. The film world in which this film exists is all about stereotypes. The redheaded cutie stereotype in film is all about a zany or wild or passionate independence. But here, she plays the meekest of the bunch, in fact so subservient she falls for the meatheaded braggart. Hughes didn't play this ironic casting game with the others.
Julianne Moore makes a living out of exploiting both roles when she plays most of here characters: she plays the character in type and the actor in type playing the character. I think Molly does this too, in an immature way. Once Hughes tried to use her `normally,' in the next film, she walked away from a Harrison Ford-like career. Good for her. She recently did a campy take on herself in `Cut' where the joke was just this duality: the film actually becomes the evil character! At this writing, she is signed to appear in the most ambitious and intelligent film project of the decade: `Luper.'
She never had a big career, but I really admire what she did at this age and her sufficient selfawareness to walk away from the numbing money roles.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.