FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF (1986). John Hughes's premise couldn't be simpler: high-school con artist Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) decides he's got to take a day off from school, so he gets his best friend (Alan Ruck) and his gorgeous girlfriend (Mia Sara) to join him. The first half of the movie is prankishly amusing. But when the trio get to Chicago, instead of reveling in the exhilaration of being young and on the loose in the city, Hughes serves up slickly edited montages and never develops any give-and-take among the performers. Worse still is the glib superiority in the portrayals of the poor souls who cross Ferris's path, especially Jeffrey Jones (in a labored subplot) as a sadistic high-school disciplinarian. At least Broderick manages to alleviate Ferris's obviousness with some of his own charm. (102m) Weekend midnights at the Fenway.