The documentary, then, was entirely composed of teenagers talking about current teen films, people “off the street” talking about Hughes’ films, and cast/crew/critics etc talking about working with Hughes or being influenced by him. Oh, yeah – there were clips in there too. Though I found the film compelling hearing every Tom, Dick and Harry say the same things over and over again became very repetitive. So many people also had similar sound bites, so that too grew irratating.

I saw the DVD release and was completely refreshed by it. By trimming many interviews (some were completely absent) and keeping it to the bare essentials, it kept the pace moving and was a great vehicle for conversation afterwards, to continue the dialogue. Also, if you’re going to make a love letter, you want to know who is writing it, so I found the filmmakers involvement essential. I didn’t love them. But that’s okay. It gave me a story to follow and I related to things they said and laughed at them.

The irony is that had they released the version I saw, people would be complaining that it was too boring with people just talking.

Either way, the fact that they were making this film to tribute a man still alive, for their subject matter to die as they were finishing the film is compelling.

It’s a film worth watching if you’re a John Hughes fan and feel his loss.