Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Metascore
60 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
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  1. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    100
    Ferris and his adventures represent a teen's dream of glory: to have, at one's fingertips, the technical skills to sabotage the adult world's machinery of oppression and, at the tip of one's tongue, the perfect squelch for grownups' moralistic blather. [23 June 1986]
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  2. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    89
    When people think fondly of John Hughes, it's movies like Ferris Bueller that they're thinking of.
  3. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    88
    This is the funniest teen movie I've seen in eons.
  4. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Brad Laidman
    80
    This is John Hughes' best teen film, and it's a call to arms to everyone in the world who doesn't want to follow society's lame-ass rules at the expense of living a cool life.
  5. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    The film's heart is in the right place, and Ferris Bueller is slight, whimsical and sweet.
  6. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    70
    It's basically a mindless paean to goofing off, with interludes of dubious seriousness. [16 June 1986]
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  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Nina Darnton
    60
    In this film [Hughes] has created a character who is every teen-ager's fantasy, but in the process he has lost some of the authenticity of his other films - leaving several slow transitions or awkward moments.
  8. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Gene Siskel
    50
    That the film doesn't live up to our anticipation of a rolicking good time is only part of its disappointment. [11 June 1986]
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  9. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    40
    The story and pacing of this offbeat comedy wear thin after the first 20 minutes.
  10. Variety
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    40
    Paucity of invention here lays bare the total absence of plot or involving situations.
  11. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    40
    The overriding impression is one of utter nihilism, as reflected in a world divided into bored, crassly materialistic teenagers on one side and doltish, unfeeling adults on the other.
  12. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Julie Salamon
    0
    One of the least appealing movies I've seen in a while.... When a member of the audience belched loudly, that got the biggest laugh of the day. [17 June 1986, p.26(E)]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 67 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 28
  3. Negative: 4 out of 28
  1. JC
    10
    It's funny how some of those 'professional' critics simply didn't get the point of the film, and thought it was a crass movie with no moral or message in the story.… Full Review »
  2. PhilL
    9
    FUNNY, FUNNY and did I mention that it's FUNNY?
  3. oblique15
    8
    Love or hate this movie It`s an obvious classic. The only reason I give it a 8 instead of a 10 is I don`t really like the main character, hes kind of annoying but some how this is still one of those movies that live forever.… Full Review »
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