Sixteen Candles

Jenni and I had a hard time enjoying this movie. I think we both had preconceptions of a humorous, heart-warming story and instead we got something cynical and unsatisfying. Throw in the fact that it was our Valentine’s Day movie, it was a classic example of having the wrong expectations going in and slid into a downward spiral the whole length of the movie.

It’s not the worst movie we’ve ever seen, but the first thing that bothered us was rating the movie received. On the box, it said the movie was “PG,” but in the first five minutes of the movie, we were greeted with a word that was definitely not “PG.” And if the language wasn’t enough, we were flashed in a shower scene in the girls’ locker room shortly after too. I guess the movie ratings have gotten stricter in the last two decades, but I would think the ratings would’ve loosened rather than get stricter. I remember when the “B” word was acceptable on television, and then all the shows capitalized on the newfound freedom.

We shared a few laughs through the movie. The Chinese exchange student was a welcomed character as we recognized him as the Karate instructor from “UHF.” Watching the stereotype of nerds lacking social skills wasn’t too far off from the truth.

I believe the best part was the scene between the father and his daughter. He sensed that she was bothered by something and comforted her like a good father should. I guess now that I’m a dad, I better appreciate the effort he made to connect with her and be real with her.