The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club (1985)
Director: John Hughes
Cast: Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Paul Gleason
Memorable Line(s): "We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."

Ask anyone who spent their teens or even early twenties in the 1980s and you're very likely to get them to admit that The Breakfast Club was a resonant movie for them. At least, at that time and place in their lives.

It's Saturday and five high school students find themselves in detention. They represent the disparate edges of high school life -- the jock (Estevez), the brain (Hall), the criminal (Nelson), the freak (Sheedy), and the socialite (Ringwald). Lording over them on this Saturday detention is their imperious, yet detached Principal (Gleason). It's is not a Saturday of heads down on desks to sleep away the day or Saturday to study or Saturday to goof off. It is day in which each of the characters must face themselves, face each other and learn to accept who they are.

The Breakfast Club is sort like The Big Chill for the teen set. For a teenage watching it in the 1980s, I would imagine that it was insightful journey of introspection. Looking from afar and over the years, it does seem like director/writer John Hughes may have overplayed his hand with the poignancy of the story. Still, I would imagine that this movie continues speaks to teenagers in their place of alienation and confusion even though the movie tends to be more fairy tale than reality.

Each of the actors has meaty roles as they get to explore teen angst and the class-war that is being a part of high school and the actors meet the task well. The script, though forced at times, works for the most part in getting the key points across, but really isn't a reality that too many of of lived. But who goes to the movies for reality? Reality is what we live day and day out. We go to the movies to escape. So, if it's a poignant tale of teen life in the 80's you want, The Breakfast Club has enough craft and talent to certainly meet your needs.