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Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel without a Cause is one of the earliest films in the coming of age genre and stars James Dean as the main character. Directed by Nicholas Ray, this film is about a boy called Jim Stark who tries to stand up against a bully but ends up with his two best friends, Judy and Plato, in an abandoned mansion acting out a fantasy family. -
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Coming of Age Films
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The Graduate
The Graduate stars Dustin Hoffman as Ben Braddock who starts the film with a low ambition with something to do with his parent’s swimming pool. He then has an affair with a character called Mrs Robinson which then leads him to fall in love with her daughter. Directed by Mike Nichols and Buck Henry did the screenplay. -
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid is a story about a boy called Daniel (played by Ralph Macchio) who moves to Southern California and gets bullied by a group who study Karate. Daniel manages to befriend a retired martial arts expert and gets taught a different type of Karate in order to stand up to the bullies. I have seen this film and I would personally recommend this film as it follows Daniel through his journey to become a Karate Kid. -
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club is about a breakfast club that is made up of students of a high school from every social group. Each of them tells each other about their experiences and life that makes each of them see the others differently. The Breakfast Club was directed by John Hughes and continued to become an award-winning film. -
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a film about Ferris skipping school for the last time before he and his friends graduate. He tricks his parents and manages to drag his actually sick friend, Cameron, to have a day of adventure. He also manages to bail out his girlfriend, Sloane, from school. His school principle is determined to catch him in the act, which leads to some hilarious scenes. -
Big
Big is a film about a 12-year-old boy called Josh Baskin who makes a wish at a theme park after he is told that he can’t go on the majority of the rides because he is too small. The next morning, he wakes to find that he has become a 30-year-old man (Tom Hanks). He gets a job at a toy company in New York and gains an admirer within the job. Josh thinks it’s great to begin with but the pressure of adulthood soon makes him long to be a kid again. Personally, I think this film is great fun and Tom -
American Pie
American Pie is a film about a group of high school kids and how they are fed up for being known as “sexual no-hitters” decide to try and lose their virginity. -
Spider-man
Spiderman is a film about a boy called Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) who gets bitten by a spider and decides to assume the identity of a superhero in New York City. Peter uses these powers to fight for truth and justice. I have seen this film and I think it’s a great film except I prefer the latest Spiderman films that star Andrew Garfield.
As a side note, this film was the first film to get a 12A rating which opened the teen film to a brand new audience. -
Mean Girls
Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is a girl who was home educated by her scientist parents in Africa and moves to America and joins a public school. She finds herself befriending 3 girls who call themselves “the Plastics”. She unfortunately finds out why these girls are given this nickname. Mean Girls is a hilarious film full of embarrassing tales and deceit at every turn. -
Juno
Juno stars Ellen Page and is about a girl who becomes pregnant at 16. To begin with, she wants to get it aborted but a childless couple manages to convince her to give them the child once it’s born. Unfortunately, Juno starts to see the marriage fall apart. This film has its funny and sad moments as it tries to stay serious throughout. -
Easy A
Emma Stone stars in this coming of age comedy about a girl called Olive (Stone) who just can’t stop lying! It all begins when she lies to her friend about what she did on the weekend but the high-school busybody overhears and spreads it all over the school. This is easily my favourite film on this timeline as it is the funniest and, at the same time, the saddest.
