Sixteen Candles: Critic Reviews

Most of the the movie is cheerful and light, showcasing Mr. Hughes's knack for remembering all those aspects of middle-class American adolescent behavior that anyone else might want to forget.

A sweet and funny movie about two of the worst things that can happen to a girl on her sixteenth birthday.

As the girl, Molly Ringwald is natural and appealing, but she's lost in a world of blunt, vicious caricatures.

There's also a darkly handsome high school heartbreak kid (Michael Schoeffling), a merciful brisk pace, some quick humor (visual and verbal), and a solid music track.

Some of the material works marvelously well, but the stuff that doesn't takes the movie down with it.

Racy, drunken, hilarious '80s high school comedy.

Candles is a brazenly mischievous, consistently uproarious comedy that christens the devastating Hughes-fu with vivacious results.

This funny, unpretentious film marked writer John Hughes's first time out as a director. The premise is ordinary, but the film is distinguished by funny gags and excellent performances.

Sly humour and an appreciative ear for the demotic improv of teenage chat completes an attractive package.

The first effort by writer/director John Hughes on his way to becoming the William Shakespeare of teenage angst. One really has to be aware of the climate of the early '80s to truly understand the impact that this film had among teens.

Broad, bubbly, and kind of adorable.

a slightly over-sweet teen classic

So great I brought it on laserdisc years ago!

just right