In film, coming of age is a genre of teen films. Coming-of-age films focus on the psychological and moral growth or transition of a protagonist from youth to adulthood. Personal growth and change is an important characteristic of this genre, which relies on dialogue and emotional responses, rather than action. With that being said I'm going to bring you my top 10 coming-of-age films of all-time. So without further ado...
10. Almost Famous
This film is a lot of fun and it has one of the best film soundtracks of all-time. Elaine Miller (played by Frances McDormand) is a bright, loving, but strict single parent whose distrust of rock music and fears about drug use have helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita (played by Zooey Deschanel) and William (played by Patrick Fugit). Anita rebels by dropping out of school and becoming a stewardess, but William makes something of his love of rock & roll by writing album reviews for a local underground newspaper. William's work attracts the attention of Lester Bangs (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), editor of renegade rock magazine Creem, who takes William under his wing and gives him his first professional writing assignment -- covering a Black Sabbath concert. While William is unable to score an interview with the headliners, the opening act, Stillwater, are more than happy to chat with a reporter, even if he's still too young to drive, and William's piece on the group in Creem gains him a new admirer in Ben Fong-Torres (played y Terry Chen), an editor at Rolling Stone. Torres offers William an assignment for a 3,000-word cover story on Stillwater, and over the objections of his mother (whose parting words are "Don't use drugs!"), and after some stern advice from Bangs (who says under no circumstances should he become friends with a band he's covering), Williams joins Stillwater on tour, where he becomes friendly with guitarist Russell Hammond (played by Billy Crudup) and singer Jeff Bebe (played by Jason Lee). William also becomes enamored of Penny Lane (played by Kate Hudson), a groupie traveling with the band who is no older than William, but is deeply involved with Russell. Almost Famous was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including 2 for Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing while winning 1 (Best Original Screenplay) and it has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Precious
This movie is just emotionally powerful and it has one of the best female performances ever seen on film. Clareece "Precious" Jones (played by Gabourey Sidibe) is only a teenager, yet she's about to give birth to her second child. Unable to read or write, Clareece shows little prospect for the future until discovering that she has been accepted into an alternative school. There, with a little help from a sympathetic teacher (played by Paula Patton) and a kindly nurse (played by Lenny Kravitiz), the young girl receives something that most teens never get -- a chance to start over. Precious was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best editing while winning 2 (Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay) and it has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Superbad
This film is absolutely hilaious and it helped lauch the careers of both Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. Operating under the assumption that by procuring alcohol for an upcoming party they will finally be able to break their longstanding losing streak with the fairer sex, socially inept high school seniors Evan (played by Michael Cera) and Seth (played by Jonah Hill) set out to secure the adult beverages that could get them off of the geek list before they even attend college orientation. Evan is a bright young student whose outward sweetness belies his suffocating fear of heading off to college without his lifelong best friend Seth -- a hormone-driven mischief-maker who wasn't accepted to the same school as Evan. But Evan and Seth both know that college is a place of personal reinvention, and that if they are able to make that first leap together they will have forged a bond powerful enough to last a lifetime. Meanwhile, Evan and Seth's friend Fogell (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse) acquires a hastily rendered fake I.D. that instantly endears him to a pair of truly irresponsible cops (played by Bill Hader and Seth Rogen). Superbad has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Stand By Me
For this to be based off of a Stephen King novel, this is a pretty emotional film. A quartet of boys, inseparable friends all, set out in search of a dead body that one of the boys overhears his brother talking about. The foursome consists of intellectual Gordie (played by Wil Wheaton), born leader Chris (played by River Phoenix), emotionally disturbed Teddy (played by Corey Feldman), and chubby hanger-on Vern (played by Jerry O'Connell). The boys' adventures en route to the elusive body are colored by the personal pressures brought to bear on all of them by the adult world. Stand By Me has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. Dazed and Confused
This film is hilarious and it has a talented young ensemble cast whose careers were launched by the film. Set on the last day of the academic year, the film follows the random activities of a sprawling group of Texas high schoolers as they celebrate the arrival of summer, their paths variously intersecting at a freshmen hazing, a local pool parlor and finally at a keg party. Dazed and Confused has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
This film has a great cast and it is one of the most quotable films of all-time. Stacy Hamilton (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a young, innocent high-school student who, as the film opens, is asking for advice from her friend, the sexually outspoken Linda Barrett (played by Phoebe Cates). Stacy takes a liking to nebbish Mark Ratner (plyed by Brian Backer), but he is too afraid to make a move even after Stacy all but throws herself at him. She eventually hooks up with Mark's more confident best friend, Mike Damone (played by Robert Romanus). When not concerning itself with these four characters, the film spends time with stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli (played by Sean Penn) and his ongoing feud with history teacher Mr. Hand (played by Ray Walston). Fast Times at Ridgemont High has a rating of 79% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Dead Poets Society
This is an inspiring film and it has one of the most underrated performances by an actor of all-time. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (played by Robin Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (played by Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil (played by Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (played by Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (played by Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blasé attitude; unconventional Gerard (played by James Waterston); and practical Richard (played by Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (played by Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay while winning 1 (Best original Screenplay) and it has rating of 85% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. The Goonies
I absolutely love this film and it has a great re-watch-ability factor. A group of misfit kids search for buried treasure in a subterranean cavern. Here they cross the path of lady criminal Mama Fratelli (played by Anne Ramsey) and her outlaw brood. Fortunately, the kids manage to befriend Fratelli's hideously deformed (but soft-hearted) son (played by John Matuszak), who comes to their rescue. The Goonies has a rating of 67% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. American Pie
I love this film and I absolutely love the entire franchise. a group of friends at the end of their senior year make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night. In their outrageous attempts to fulfill this mission, they come to some surprising, hilarious and often touching realizations about themselves, their friendships, their notions of love, romance and their relations with the opposite sex. American Pie has a rating of 61% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. The Breakfast Club
This film really helped me in high school and it's one of my favorite films of all-time. Trapped in a day-long Saturday detention in a prison-like school library are Claire, the princess (played by Molly Ringwald); Andrew, the jock (played by Emilio Estevez); John, the criminal (played by Judd Nelson); Brian, the brain (played by Anthony Michael Hall); and Allison, the basket case (played by Ally Sheedy). These five strangers begin the day with nothing in common, each bound to his/her place in the high school caste system. Yet the students bond together when faced with the villainous principal (played by Paul Gleason), and they realize that they have more in common than they may think, including a contempt for adult society. "When you grow up, your heart dies," Allison proclaims in one of the film's many scenes of soul-searching, and, judging from the adults depicted in the film, the teen audience may very well agree. The Breakfast Club has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
10. Almost Famous
This film is a lot of fun and it has one of the best film soundtracks of all-time. Elaine Miller (played by Frances McDormand) is a bright, loving, but strict single parent whose distrust of rock music and fears about drug use have helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita (played by Zooey Deschanel) and William (played by Patrick Fugit). Anita rebels by dropping out of school and becoming a stewardess, but William makes something of his love of rock & roll by writing album reviews for a local underground newspaper. William's work attracts the attention of Lester Bangs (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), editor of renegade rock magazine Creem, who takes William under his wing and gives him his first professional writing assignment -- covering a Black Sabbath concert. While William is unable to score an interview with the headliners, the opening act, Stillwater, are more than happy to chat with a reporter, even if he's still too young to drive, and William's piece on the group in Creem gains him a new admirer in Ben Fong-Torres (played y Terry Chen), an editor at Rolling Stone. Torres offers William an assignment for a 3,000-word cover story on Stillwater, and over the objections of his mother (whose parting words are "Don't use drugs!"), and after some stern advice from Bangs (who says under no circumstances should he become friends with a band he's covering), Williams joins Stillwater on tour, where he becomes friendly with guitarist Russell Hammond (played by Billy Crudup) and singer Jeff Bebe (played by Jason Lee). William also becomes enamored of Penny Lane (played by Kate Hudson), a groupie traveling with the band who is no older than William, but is deeply involved with Russell. Almost Famous was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including 2 for Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing while winning 1 (Best Original Screenplay) and it has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Precious
This movie is just emotionally powerful and it has one of the best female performances ever seen on film. Clareece "Precious" Jones (played by Gabourey Sidibe) is only a teenager, yet she's about to give birth to her second child. Unable to read or write, Clareece shows little prospect for the future until discovering that she has been accepted into an alternative school. There, with a little help from a sympathetic teacher (played by Paula Patton) and a kindly nurse (played by Lenny Kravitiz), the young girl receives something that most teens never get -- a chance to start over. Precious was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best editing while winning 2 (Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay) and it has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Superbad
This film is absolutely hilaious and it helped lauch the careers of both Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. Operating under the assumption that by procuring alcohol for an upcoming party they will finally be able to break their longstanding losing streak with the fairer sex, socially inept high school seniors Evan (played by Michael Cera) and Seth (played by Jonah Hill) set out to secure the adult beverages that could get them off of the geek list before they even attend college orientation. Evan is a bright young student whose outward sweetness belies his suffocating fear of heading off to college without his lifelong best friend Seth -- a hormone-driven mischief-maker who wasn't accepted to the same school as Evan. But Evan and Seth both know that college is a place of personal reinvention, and that if they are able to make that first leap together they will have forged a bond powerful enough to last a lifetime. Meanwhile, Evan and Seth's friend Fogell (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse) acquires a hastily rendered fake I.D. that instantly endears him to a pair of truly irresponsible cops (played by Bill Hader and Seth Rogen). Superbad has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Stand By Me
For this to be based off of a Stephen King novel, this is a pretty emotional film. A quartet of boys, inseparable friends all, set out in search of a dead body that one of the boys overhears his brother talking about. The foursome consists of intellectual Gordie (played by Wil Wheaton), born leader Chris (played by River Phoenix), emotionally disturbed Teddy (played by Corey Feldman), and chubby hanger-on Vern (played by Jerry O'Connell). The boys' adventures en route to the elusive body are colored by the personal pressures brought to bear on all of them by the adult world. Stand By Me has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. Dazed and Confused
This film is hilarious and it has a talented young ensemble cast whose careers were launched by the film. Set on the last day of the academic year, the film follows the random activities of a sprawling group of Texas high schoolers as they celebrate the arrival of summer, their paths variously intersecting at a freshmen hazing, a local pool parlor and finally at a keg party. Dazed and Confused has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
This film has a great cast and it is one of the most quotable films of all-time. Stacy Hamilton (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a young, innocent high-school student who, as the film opens, is asking for advice from her friend, the sexually outspoken Linda Barrett (played by Phoebe Cates). Stacy takes a liking to nebbish Mark Ratner (plyed by Brian Backer), but he is too afraid to make a move even after Stacy all but throws herself at him. She eventually hooks up with Mark's more confident best friend, Mike Damone (played by Robert Romanus). When not concerning itself with these four characters, the film spends time with stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli (played by Sean Penn) and his ongoing feud with history teacher Mr. Hand (played by Ray Walston). Fast Times at Ridgemont High has a rating of 79% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Dead Poets Society
This is an inspiring film and it has one of the most underrated performances by an actor of all-time. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (played by Robin Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (played by Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil (played by Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (played by Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (played by Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blasé attitude; unconventional Gerard (played by James Waterston); and practical Richard (played by Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (played by Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay while winning 1 (Best original Screenplay) and it has rating of 85% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. The Goonies
I absolutely love this film and it has a great re-watch-ability factor. A group of misfit kids search for buried treasure in a subterranean cavern. Here they cross the path of lady criminal Mama Fratelli (played by Anne Ramsey) and her outlaw brood. Fortunately, the kids manage to befriend Fratelli's hideously deformed (but soft-hearted) son (played by John Matuszak), who comes to their rescue. The Goonies has a rating of 67% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. American Pie
I love this film and I absolutely love the entire franchise. a group of friends at the end of their senior year make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night. In their outrageous attempts to fulfill this mission, they come to some surprising, hilarious and often touching realizations about themselves, their friendships, their notions of love, romance and their relations with the opposite sex. American Pie has a rating of 61% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. The Breakfast Club
This film really helped me in high school and it's one of my favorite films of all-time. Trapped in a day-long Saturday detention in a prison-like school library are Claire, the princess (played by Molly Ringwald); Andrew, the jock (played by Emilio Estevez); John, the criminal (played by Judd Nelson); Brian, the brain (played by Anthony Michael Hall); and Allison, the basket case (played by Ally Sheedy). These five strangers begin the day with nothing in common, each bound to his/her place in the high school caste system. Yet the students bond together when faced with the villainous principal (played by Paul Gleason), and they realize that they have more in common than they may think, including a contempt for adult society. "When you grow up, your heart dies," Allison proclaims in one of the film's many scenes of soul-searching, and, judging from the adults depicted in the film, the teen audience may very well agree. The Breakfast Club has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of you favorite coming-of-age films of all-time and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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