In “SKOW,” the teens are not armed with much foreknowledge, so I fear for Keith, Watts and Amanda getting their hearts broken.

Probably not coincidentally, both dream girls are named Amanda.) (Also in 1998, “Can’t Hardly Wait” does a comedic riff on “SKOW’s” party showdown scene. That’s not necessarily a criticism if this story was remade today, Watts would definitely be into Amanda - everything is a product of its time, and carries some predictability because of that.Īll 24 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, rankedĪnother riff on this type of love triangle is Season 1 of “Dawson’s Creek” – with Dawson being obsessed with Jen while taking the pining Joey for granted – but by 1998 TV teens were aware that they were playing out storylines from Hughes movies.

It’s 1987, so lesbians are a known quantity, but only enough so a main character can be insulted with the accusation of being one, not so they actually would be one. To cite another example, when Watts eyes Amanda in the locker room, the scene could be read as 1, she’s attracted to Amanda, or 2, she’s studying Amanda’s feminine qualities and wondering if she can duplicate them so Keith notices her. For one thing, it’s unclear how much Amanda knows about Hardy’s plan to lure Keith to his house party for the sake of beating him up. The whole of “Some Kind of Wonderful” is a portrayal of how little things to an outside observer are the biggest things in the world to a teen, and when you’re laser-focused on one thing (as Keith is on Amanda), you can miss out other obvious (in retrospect) things.įor all its clichés - including the rich jerk, Craig Sheffer’s Hardy Jenns, who views Amanda as his “property” – “SKOW” isn’t exactly a rote exercise in letting the expected beats play out. Rather than a plot hole, Keith’s failure to recognize what Watts is saying is actually a temporary refusal to recognize it. “The only things I care about in this goddamn life are me and my drums and you,” Watts says in one of several scenes where Masterson does such good acting with her sad eyes and slight scowl. Stoltz, with his hair making him a dead ringer for Mark Hamill from a decade earlier, has a soft voice that paints him close enough to being an innocent teen.Īnd as focused as Keith is on what he wants, he is oblivious to at least one thing: the love of his tomboy best friend, Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson) – even though Watts confesses her love to him long before it clicks in his head. Unusual for an 18-year-old, Keith knows what he wants: to be an artist and to date Amanda Jones ( “Back to the Future’s” Lea Thompson).

Amanda jones some kind of wonderful