Some Kind Of Wonderful (1987)

Waiting for you to notice, the person who knows you best may be standing right beside you. Howard Deutch's "Some Kind of Wonderful," written and produced by John Hughes, came near the end of Hughes' remarkable run of 1980s teen movies, and it's one of his best. Like "The Breakfast Club" and "Pretty in Pink," which Deutch also directed, it treats its teenage characters as real people with genuine feelings, hopes, fears and desires. In fact, it plays like a gender-flipped version of "Pretty in Pink." Mary Stuart Masterson gives a terrific performance as Watts, a tomboyish drummer who is secretly in love with her best friend, Keith (Eric Stoltz), a working-class aspiring artist. Keith is oblivious to her feelings because he's smitten with Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson), the most popular girl in school, who happens to be dating a rich jerk (Craig Sheffer). Watts even agrees to serve as chauffeur on Keith's big date with Amanda, patiently enduring plenty of heartache in hopes of proving she's the better match. The drama comes from Keith's slow realization that love is about more than surface attraction, and Hughes deepens the romantic tangle by allowing Amanda to be more than just a shallow campus beauty. Elias Koteas is memorable as a skinhead with a soft spot for Keith. All three leads are perfectly cast, and it's one of the rare '80s teen films to combine mainstream appeal with real emotional depth. It has aged beautifully.