Product Details

• Actors: Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, Lea Thompson, Craig Sheffer, John Ashton
• Directors: Howard Deutch
• Writers: John Hughes
• Producers: John Hughes, Michael Chinich, Ronald Colby
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount Home Video
• VHS Release Date: June 11, 1996
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (144 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300218031
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,221 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After dominating the teen-movie genre for the bulk of the 1980s, writer-producer (and sometimes director) John Hughes proved that he had at least one good movie left in him before squandering his talent on lame comedies throughout the 1990s. Like The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful treated its teenaged characters like real people with real feelings, hopes, fears, and desire. Mary Stuart Masterson gives a great performance as a tomboy drummer named Watts who's secretly in love with her best friend, Keith (Eric Stoltz), an aspiring artist who is oblivious to her affection because he's got a crush on Amanda (Lea Thompson), the popular high school beauty. Watts will even go so far as to chauffeur a date for Keith and Amanda, if only to prove--after a lot of patient, emotional anguish--that she's better for Keith than Amanda could ever be. The movie's drama comes from Keith's gradual realization that there's more to love than surface attraction, and Hughes gets extra mileage out of the romantic confusion by allowing Thompson's character to be more than a shallow campus cutie. All three of the leads are good fits in their roles, and this was one of the few teen films of the '80s to add genuine depth to its mainstream appeal. It's one of the few John Hughes movies to stand the test of time. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The movie with the ending Pretty In Pink should have had!, October 22, 2002

By 

Kevinduran (Indianapolis, Indiana USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Some Kind of Wonderful (DVD)

This 80's John Hughes gem wasn't as popular as some of his other movies (Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty In Pink), which is a shame because it's every bit as good as those flicks, if not better. The plot of Pretty In Pink is sort of rehashed here: a teen from the poor side of town (Eric Stoltz subbing for Molly Ringwald), has got eyes for a popular teen (Lea Thompson subbing for Andrew McCarthy), and has a free-thinkin', seemingly gay best friend of the opposite gender (Mary Stuart Masterson subbing for Jon Cryer) that winds up being the person they should end up with. There's even the token jerk that causes problems for everyone (Craig Sheffer subbing for James Spader.)

The original ending of Pretty In Pink was changed after test audiences said they would rather Molly Ringwald's character end up with Andrew McCarthy's, instead of Jon Cryer's. (Wrong! At least in my opinion.) They got it right in "Some Kind Of Wonderful." What a great 80's teen flick this is! Not too sappy, not too dramatic- everything gets balanced out with little drops of humor here and there. Candace Cameron is hilarious in every one of her scenes (check her out as Eric Stoltz's younger sister before she wound up on TV's migraine headache inducing "Full House"); so is Maddie Corman who plays the middle sister. (She later ended up on Margaret Cho's short lived "All American Girl" sitcom and was in another GREAT 80's teen flick called "Seven Minutes in Heaven" which also starred Jennifer Connelly.)

If you love this movie, or are a fan of the John Hughes genre, you should also check out the "Some Kind Of Wonderful" soundtrack. It's every bit as GREAT as the "Pretty In Pink" soundtrack. The opening credits sequence music from "Some Kind Of Wonderful" ("Abuse" by Propaganda) is not on the cd, but is available on Propaganda's "Wishful Thinking" cd.

The only issue I have with this DVD is the same issue I have with a lot of other Paramount DVD's: no extra goodies. No trailer, no outtakes, no deleted scenes, no commentary. That is disappointing, but it's still great to have this on DVD finally.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful 80's Film, July 9, 2004

By 

Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Some Kind of Wonderful (DVD)

1987's Some Kind Of Wonderful is a gender-revised version of 1986's Pretty In Pink. Eric Stoltz takes the place of Molly Ringwald and Lea Thompson & Mary Stuart Masterson do the same for Andrew McCarthy & Jon Cryer. Mr. Stoltz plays Keith a loner, artistic type who works at a garage and whose best friend is a tom girl, drummer Watts played by Ms. Masterson. Keith pines after Amanda Jones (Ms. Thompson), one of the most popular girls in school. Amanda dates the spoiled rich boy Hardy Jenns (Craig Sheffer) and after they fight, Keith swoops in and asks Amanda for a date, to which she agrees. Keith finds out that the whole date is just a setup to get him to Jenns' house so he can beat him up, he still continues with the date. He sets an elaborate evening, dinner at a fancy restaurant, art museum after hours and a set of diamond earrings. It turns out that Amanda isn't some spoiled rich girl, but a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who sold herself out for popularity. All the while, Watts is secretly in love with Keith and in the end after a showdown at Jenns' house where he is exposed as a chicken and fraud, Keith realizes his true feelings for Watts and they kiss. The movie is filled with nice performances by the three leads, but it is the supporting players that give the best performances. John Ashton is perfectly gruff and pushing as Keith's dad, Maddie Corman is the classic, annoying younger sister, but Elias Koteas steals the show as Duncan, the school thug who befriends Keith. Mr. Koteas throws out some classic lines. This was the last film John Hughes would write or director in the classic 80's teen angst vein. The soundtrack to the film is excellent, featuring no name bands like Flesh For Lulu, The Licking Tins and Furniture and it captures the essence of the films.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Break His Heart and I'll Break Your Face ... Memorable Line!, April 3, 2006

By 

M. R. Estante "book reader" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some Kind of Wonderful (DVD)

This was the most memorable line in the whole movie... when the tom girl in love with her best guy friend tells the popular girl to watch out! Hmmm... this should have been a signal that she was a keeper. The 80's was really captured in this movie and it signals the genres theme of teenage turmoil in a greedy decade. I'm glad the best friends ended up together. Sometimes it's true that our feelings run deep and we have no idea until a rival comes along.