Day 3: A Salty Kiss on the Street

Before I go back to look it up online for a recall of the details of names and dates, I just have to say I remember the film's closing scene on the street. She's wearing a tuxedo and walking home crying, and then he comes after her calling her name, and she turns around and sees that he finally recognizes that she has been, as yesterday's song would put it: dreaming of the day when he would wake up and find that what he had been looking for was here the whole time . . . and the soundtrack music swells as they kiss.

Some Kind of Wonderful, released 1987, written by John Hughes, directed by Howard Deutch, starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, Lea Thomson, Craig Sheffer.

So the movie came out at prime time for me, a seventh grader and the target audience for this high school heirarchy and romance story by John Hughes. I've seen it many times, but not on DVD, so that tells me it has been a long time since I've enjoyed this one.

What makes the movie so fun to watch is that it is not too far into the story before the audience gets a bunch of clues that Watts is helping her best friend catch the beautiful girl only because she is so much in love with him that she'll do anything to remain in his proximity. Why else would she suggest he practice kissing on her? Why else would she be the chauffeur on his special date and put herself through that agony? She seems to think it wise to keep her feelings to herself and wait things out until he gets a clue about who is really the right girl for him. How could he be so blind? Even the girl he is chasing the whole time saw as soon as she met Watts that little drummer girl saw her as competition.

So this is a movie that I can watch and enjoy many times, even when I know exactly what will happen. It is so interesting to closely observe the blindness of Keith's eyes and the longing of Watts's eyes while knowing that the turning point is just around the corner, and that the misery will turn to joy when the time for recognition is perfectly ripe.