Some Kind of Wonderful (film)
Some Kind of Wonderful is a 1987 American romantic drama film directed by Howard Deutch and starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Lea Thompson. It is one of several successful teen dramas written by John Hughes in the 1980s. Plot. The film is set against the strict social hierarchy of an American public high school in suburban LA. Blue-collar mechanic and aspiring artist Keith Nelson (Eric Stoltz) and his tomboyish friend Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson), who has been subjected to rumors that she is a lesbian, aspire to improve their social standing. Keith 's blue-collar father is obsessed with sending him to college for business, as he would be the first in their family to go. Keith is enamored with Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson), the most popular girl in school. She is dating Hardy Jenns (Craig Sheffer), a self-absorbed boy from a wealthy neighborhood who thinks Keith is beneath him. He treats Amanda as his "property" and is seen fooling around with another girl. Hearing that Amanda will be in detention, Keith gets himself in trouble in order to spend time with her. Unbeknownst to him, she has talked her way  out of detention, and he is stuck with the school misfits, eventually making friends with troublemaker Duncan (Elias Koteas). When Amanda breaks up with Hardy outside their school, Keith seizes the opportunity to ask her out. Taking it as a chance to prove to Hardy that she does not need him, Amanda accepts. Meanwhile, seeing her best friend with Amanda makes Watts realize her feelings for him are much deeper. Amanda starts to lose popularity at school when her friends start to ignore her for not being with Hardy. Watts, meanwhile, enlists the help of another boy to try and  make Keith jealous, but he barely notices. With Watts' help, he sets out trying to plan the perfect date to prove he is worthy of Amanda. Watts tells him that she will appreciate a good kisser, and shows Keith how to kiss. He is oblivious to Watts' attraction to him. He later uses his college fund, with Watts in tow, and selects a pair of earrings for Amanda. When Keith's father discovers the college fund has been emptied, he is livid, but Keith ultimately convinces his father to respect his right to make his own decisions. Meanwhile, Hardy plots  trouble for Keith by inviting him and Amanda to a party after their date, where he plans to have Keith beaten up. Through his sister Laura, Keith finds out about the plot, believing Amanda to be part of it, but goes ahead with the date anyway, spending the rest of his college money on an expensive dinner and roping in Watts (as chauffeur) to help make the date special. At Hardy's party, the timely arrival of Duncan and the other "misfits" saves Keith from taking a beating. Suddenly fearing for his safety, Hardy tries to talk his way out  of his predicament. Amused, Keith tells Hardy he is "over," after which Amanda slaps Hardy. Duncan tells Keith he'll stay at the party in order to bring it "to a nice, respectable level". After leaving the party, Amanda suddenly realizes that Keith and Watts have feelings for one another and that, instead of her earlier selfishness, she wants to do the "right" thing. She returns the earrings and urges him to go after Watts. Keith, realizing that he is in love with his best friend, bids Amanda goodbye with a kiss on the cheek. He catches up to Watts  and they kiss, whereupon Keith confesses to Watts that he had no idea how she really felt about him. He then gives the earrings to a delighted Watts, who admits she always wanted them. She puts them on and asks Keith how they look, and he replies, "You look good wearing my future." Production. Hughes was personally not happy with the ending of his previous film "Pretty in Pink" (1986); in the script and the original cut of the film Andy (Molly Ringwald) wound up with her best friend Duckie (Jon Cryer). Test audiences disliked that ending, however, so a  new ending was shot where Andy wound up with Blane (Andrew McCarthy). Hughes was always unhappy with this version, which led to a falling out with "Pink"'s director, Howard Deutch. With "Some Kind of Wonderful", Hughes decided to re-tell the story, but with the genders of the main characters switched. Hughes named the three main protagonists—Keith, Watts, and Amanda Jones—as an inside-joke tribute to the Rolling Stones (Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and the Stones' song "Miss Amanda Jones", respectively). Martha Coolidge was signed to direct "Some Kind of Wonderful". Hughes wanted Molly Ringwald to play  the female lead role of Watts, but she declined in order to pursue more adult roles. Hughes took this refusal personally and this led to the end of Hughes and Ringwald's working relationship. The role instead went to Mary Stuart Masterson. In addition to Masterson, Coolidge cast Eric Stoltz as Keith and Craig Sheffer as Hardy. At this point, "Pretty in Pink" was released and became a big hit. Hughes fired original cast members Kim Delaney, Kyle MacLachlan, and director Coolidge, and hired Deutch to direct. Deutch wanted to cast Michael J. Fox in the lead, but Fox turned  down the role. Deutch offered Thompson the role of Amanda, but she initially turned him down; after the Thompson-starring "Howard the Duck" flopped at the box office, Thompson accepted the second offer to take the role. Ultimately, Thompson ended up marrying Deutch as well. The film was shot in Los Angeles in the summer of 1986. Locations include San Pedro High School, Hancock Park and the Hollywood Bowl. Reception. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 75% based on 44 reviews, with the site's consensus; ""Some Kind of Wonderful" is above-average '80s teen fare  for people who need as much John Hughes in their lives as possible." On Metacritic the film has a score of 55 out of 100 based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "Mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on a scale of A to F. Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" praised the film, calling it worthwhile and entertaining. Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" stated that "Some Kind of Wonderful" is the "much-improved, recycled version of the "Pretty in Pink" story". Richard Schickel of "Time" criticized the film  for being unrealistic. Masterson's performance was singled out for praise by several critics.