Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
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A blue-collar mechanic and his tomboy best friend navigate the social hierarchies of high school while discovering the truth about their feelings.
The story
Set against the strict social hierarchy of an American public high school in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, the film follows Keith Nelson, a blue-collar mechanic and aspiring artist. Keith is best friends with a tomboy drummer named Watts, while Keith himself is enamored with Amanda Jones, one of the most popular girls in school. Amanda is currently dating Hardy Jenns, a spoiled and selfish boy from a wealthy neighborhood. In an attempt to spend more time with Amanda, Keith gets himself into trouble, leading to an unexpected friendship with a cool punk rock youth named Duncan.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Set in a Los Angeles public high school, Keith Nelson, a blue-collar mechanic and aspiring artist, is best friends with a tomboy drummer named Watts. Keith is infatuated with Amanda Jones, a popular girl dating the wealthy and spoiled Hardy Jenns. While trying to get closer to Amanda, Keith finds himself hanging out with school troublemakers and befriends a punk rock youth named Duncan. Meanwhile, Watts begins dating Amanda, only to realize that Amanda actually loves Keith. The emotional complexity of their triangle comes to a head as Keith eventually realizes his true feelings are for his best friend Watts. He ultimately bids Amanda goodbye to pursue his feelings for Watts.
- First release year
- 1987
- Runtime (minutes)
- 95
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Howard Deutch
- Writers
- John Hughes · writer
- Cast and characters
- Eric Stoltz · Keith Nelson; Mary Stuart Masterson · Watts; Craig Sheffer · Duncan; Lea Thompson · Amanda Jones
- Genres
- teen romantic drama; rock; new wave
- Themes
- social hierarchy; identity; coming-of-age; romance
- Tone and mood
- darker; romantic
- Premise and plot tags
- teen drama; romance; high school; coming-of-age
- Reception
- The film received mixed to positive reviews, with a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 55 out of 100 score on Metacritic. It was praised by Roger Ebert for its clever re-examination of film tropes and by Janet Maslin as a much-improved version of the Pretty in Pink story, while Richard Schickel criticized its realism.
- Awards and nominations
- Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama · Young Artist Awards · 1987 · Won
- Production trivia
- The names of the three main protagonists—Keith, Watts, and Amanda Jones—are an inside-joke tribute to the Rolling Stones.; The film was shot in Los Angeles in the summer of 1986.; The production involved firing original cast members Kim Delaney and Kyle MacLachlan.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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