Molly Ringwald stars in this Brat Pack take on Cinderella, making a game fist of playing a rebellious teenager from the wrong side of the tracks who meets an upmarket designer boy (Andrew McCarthy). Ringwald, all flaming red hair and grungy attire, brings a touch of charisma to the well-worn theme, and she receives sterling support from Harry Dean Stanton as her feckless, deadbeat dad. It belts along pleasingly enough, but this frenetic, hard-edged comedy drama is too hackneyed to be entirely successful.

Andie is an outcast, hanging out either with her older boss, who owns the record store where she works, or her quirky high school classmate Duckie, who has a crush on her. When one of the rich and popular kids at school, Blane, asks Andie out, it seems too good to be true. As Andie starts falling for Blane, she begins to realize that dating someone from a different social sphere is not easy.