For my first review post, I will talk about one of my personal favorite movies, “The Breakfast Club.” Although it is not my all time favorite movie, (that review will be saved for a later date since the movie is precious to me) “The Breakfast Club” is still a flick that is near and dear to my heart. Anyhow, “The Breakfast Club” is a 1985 coming-of-age, comedy drama directed and written by John Hughes. The film was released on February 15, 1985 and would go on to make $51.5 million at the box office. It would go one to become one of the most remembered 80s teen films, even to this day.
Characters
The story follows the lives of five high school students in detention, who are from different social cliques in school. At first, they do not get along with each other at all. But as the story progresses, they discover they have more in common with one another than they originally thought. From left to right in the image above, the cast includes:
- John Bender: (Played by Judd Nelson) The wise-cracking trouble maker.
- Allison Reynolds: (Played by Ally Sheedy) The social outcast.
- Andrew Clark: (Played by Emilio Estevez) The jock/athlete.
- Claire Standish: (Played by Molly Ringwald) The pretty girl.
- Brian Johnson: (Played by Anthony Michael Hall) The smart kid.
Other minor roles include:
- Richard Vernon: (Played by Paul Gleason) The school principal. He also looks over the students in detention.
- Carl: (Played by John Kapelos) The laidback janitor.
Everyone does a phenomenal job at portraying their own characters. The main five do a terrific job at playing to their high school stereotype and trope. But what sets them apart from other movies at the time doing this same thing, is that the characters feel real, which is mostly thanks to John Hughes’ writing. For instance, Claire is in the group of popular rich girls and she likes to pick fun on students less popular than her. As the film progresses however, it turns out she actually does care for others and can be very nice. The reason why she picks on others only when she is around friends is to make herself look cool. In other comedic high school films around this time, we would not see this kind of character development. Characters would stick to their stereotype and that’s it. Here however the main five protagonists have deep and complex feelings and can be easily relatable to any one watching this film.
Story
Regarding story, nothing much happens. The entire film takes place in a high school, mostly in the library where detention is held, and the scenery does not change often. So what does happen in the movie? Well, for the most part, the film just has the students interacting with one another and getting to know one another. There is conflict however, like how Bender, the trouble maker, butts heads with Andrew, the jock, at the beginning of the film as well as the principal. There is also an entertaining scene where the students are running through a hallway trying to get to a locker, while also avoiding being caught by the principal. Besides this, we just learn about students, their lives, their relationship with their parents, and how they got into detention. For some, this may sound boring. But the entertainment in this film really is found in these characters and their interactions, personalities, and how well the film breaks down these high school tropes. I personally really like this more down-to-earth style. It is a nice change of pace compared to a movie that is all in your face.
Music
Original music featured in “The Breakfast Club” works well with setting the tone, but I wouldn’t call all of it’s tracks memorable. Tracks like “Love Theme” are great when used in the film, but I wouldn’t say I would catch myself humming it. However, one track that everyone knows of and everyone remembers, even people who haven’t seen the movie, is “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds. It’s such an iconic staple to this film and I can honestly see why. If you somehow never listened to this song, here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdqoNKCCt7A
Final Thoughts
I saw this movie for the first time after a few years ago, when I was still in high school. All I remembered were a couple of scenes, “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”, and that I really liked it. Seeing it again now, I still have these same feelings: The characters are still wonderfully written, lovable, and relatable, the stellar acting, the down-to-earth and realistic dialogue, that amazing song. My feelings have not changed much since my last viewing. However, I do have one minor complaint. Carl the janitor only appears in about three scenes and that’s it. In one of them he talks to the principal and that’s kind of important, but I would like to have seen him more. Otherwise, this is a fantastic film that you should definitely make time to watch. As of writing this, it is currently available for online streaming on Netflix. So if you have an account there, give it a watch. You won’t be disappointed.
Ramblings and Reviews 