Top Gere Top 5: One Day in High School Movies
I’m sure there are millions of lists of the best high school movies because people like high school movies and people like making lists. I’m here to rank a more unique sub-genre of films, and that’s the high school movie which takes place over the course of approximately 24 hours.
There are plenty of good high school movies, and there are plenty of movies that take place in one day, but the nexus of those two lists provides an interesting group of excellent films. The idea that something so simple as the events of a single day can have a profound effect on a young person’s development is a worthwhile pursuit in filmmaking and storytelling. Here are the five best.
5. The Breakfast Club (1985)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy
It’s not the first movie to put the jock, the burnout, the nerd, the prom queen, and the loner together and turn their relationships from ambivalence and antipathy into some form of friendship, but it certainly is the best. The many-times retread theme of a person being more than what they seem on the surface is explored in a way that’s genuine rather than contrived.
Each of the characters have sub-surface traits that make their way to the fore in a thoughtful way. While the target of most high school movies is to evoke nostalgia or a vicarious longing to re-do those days, The Breakfast Club is a humorous, and sometimes painful, look at how high school can be difficult no matter who you are.
Key Quote: “We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.”
4. Dazed and Confused (1993)
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Basically everybody
While most high school movies focus on the graduating senior class, Dazed and Confused focuses mostly on the incoming seniors and freshmen. While the movie itself revolves around a party in 1970s Texas — both the failed plan of a house party and the eventual outdoor kegger — that’s not really what it’s about. What the film does is uniquely address the idea of standing up to authority — whether it’s refusing to participate in the hazing rituals performed by the outgoing senior class, or deciding whether or not to follow the offseason rules of a strict football coach.
It’s funnier than it is thoughtful, but it certainly isn’t mindless. And it’s also fun to identify the future Hollywood superstars in some of their earliest bit roles.
Key Quote: “Well, all I’m saying is that I want to look back and say that I did I the best I could while I was stuck in this place. Had as much fun as I could while I was stuck in this place. Played as hard as I could while I was stuck in this place… Dogged as many girls as I could while I was stuck in this place.”
3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara
One of the most fun movies ever made, Ferris is pure fantasy. It poses the question, “If you were a young, popular, and brilliant high school senior set to go off to college, what would you do if you could play hooky in Chicago?” I’m not sure I would sing Wayne Newton and Beatles songs on a float in a parade and pose as the Sausage King of Chicago, but I’d probably catch a Cubs game.
While it’s supremely funny and mostly mindless, the film doesn’t ignore the feelings of inferiority of Ferris’ best friend Cameron with his rough home life, and Ferris’ sister Jeanie feeling like the forgotten child. The true highlight, however, is the wild goose chase Principal Rooney embarks upon in order to prove that Ferris isn’t truly sick.
Key Quote: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”
2. Superbad (2007)
Director: Greg Mottola
Starring: Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen
Co-produced by Judd Apatow and co-written by Seth Rogen, this is unquestionably the funniest movie on this list. It fully encompasses everything awkward about high school down to the minute details — like saying goodbye to somebody and realizing your next class is in the same direction. None of the major plot points in this movie could ever happen in real life, but the sincerity with which the characters get from point A to point B makes the absurd seem realistic.
The story follows two best friends who are grappling with the idea that they won’t be going to college together the following year. They want to demonstrate that they have the ability to gain independence from each other, but don’t want to push each other away. So, rather than deal with that, they consume themselves with pursuing the girls that have recently shown interest in them and take on the responsibility of providing alcohol for a party.
Seth and Evan aren’t exactly losers. People want to hang out with them, but it seems as though they’ve spent so much time with each other that they’ve missed the opportunity to have other friends. It takes one night of shenanigans for them to learn that they have the ability to flourish on their own, and they can remain friends without spending every moment together.
Key Quote: “Yeah… They said that would happen in health class.”
1. American Graffiti (1973)
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Cindy Williams, Wolfman Jack
It’s hard to overstate how fantastic this film is. Each of the previous movies on this list owes itself in some way to American Graffiti. It’s one of George Lucas’ earliest directorial efforts, and includes Harrison Ford in one of his first feature films.
The story follows a group of friends in Modesto, California in the summer of 1962 after they have graduated from high school. Their night begins at a drive-in diner and follows them each on disparate paths. It highlights the rock n’ roll and cruising cultures of the time period. Mostly taking place in and around cars, the movie is brilliantly strung together by an ongoing radio broadcast by Wolfman Jack.
The theme is that life isn’t binary. What’s right for one person may not be right for another, and what you want now may not be what you want even tomorrow. Both hilarious and heartfelt, this is not only the best movie of this very specific genre, but one of the best ever made.
Key Quote: “It doesn’t make sense to leave home to look for home, to give up a life to find a new life, to say goodbye to friends you love just to make new friends.”
