The Breakfast Club (1985)

The Breakfast Club is a coming-of-age comedic drama that sees five students with nothing in common spend a Saturday in detention together. At 7am, they have nothing to say to each other but by the end of the day, they will bare their souls to each other and become friends. However, to the outside world, they are stereotyped by their personalities - the jock, the brain, the criminal, the princess, and the recluse - but to each other, they are and always will be the Breakfast Club.

Overall Review Score

9 out of 10

Review

Written and directed by John Hughes, The Breakfast Club is an American coming-of-age comedic-drama that starts at 7 am on Saturday, March 24, 1984 at Shermer High School in Illinois when five students report for all-day detention. As soon as the film starts the characters Andrew ‘Andy’ Clark - the athlete (Emilio Estevez), Brian Johnson – the brain (Anthony Michael Hall) - John Bender, the criminal (Judd Nelson), Claire Standish – the princess (Molly Ringwald) and Allison Reynolds – the basket case (Ally Sheedy) deliver impressive performances, as they effortlessly deliver their dialogue in an engaging, engrossing and comedic manner. Away from the main characters, the piecemeal unfolding of the script coupled with a subtle, but none the less impressive, musical score provides a unique and timeless insight into teenagers and the difficulties they face when growing up. However, more generally, the Breakfast Club is quintessentially a film of the 80’s as it tries to dismiss some of the inaccuracies of first impressions and the high, sometimes stressful, expectations teenagers face from their parents, teachers and other authority figures. Overall, the Breakfast Club is 98-minutes of pure unadulterated fun that throws in some cynical and comedic teen antics for good measure. It will resonate with audiences both young and old and is a film that will be remembered long after its credits have rolled. While watching the film, it is easy to understand why it has become a cult classic and its ending, including the famous “Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal...Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club” quote, will leave audiences with a smile on their face feeling fully satisfied and resisting the urge to fist pump the air.

Reviewer 1's score & comments:

Score: 9 out of 10

Comments:

The Breakfast club presents the audience with stereotypical characters in an 80’s high school setting. With that being said, what made the film enjoyable to watch was seeing how each character tells the audience about themselves with true credibility, persistence and emotional fervour. Further to this the film managed to capture the typical social groups seen in schools and interweave the main plotline around a variety of themes regarding prejudice / acceptance / tolerance and class differences that made the film a really delight to watch. With Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy all deliver strong memorable performances, it is no wonder why the Breakfast Club has become a cult classic.

Reviewer 2's score & comments:

Score: 9 out of 10

Comments:

The Breakfast Club is a film that encapsulates both films of the 80’s and High School, more generally, with a timeless, fun, quick-paced and somewhat musical script. The decision to base the majority of the film in a school library is pure genius – it causes the audience to sit up and focus on the dialogue heavy interactions of the characters without being distracted by passing cars, flashing lights or special effects. As the film progresses it takes the humour, parental pressures, and average personalities types found in High School and blends them together to form five fully developed and hypnotically interesting characters, which builds towards one of the most memorable endings in film history. Director and writer John Hughes along with the entire cast should be proud of this film – it is no surprising this film has stood the test of time and is still considered relevant as it draws the audience in very early on and never lets go. Overall, The Breakfast Club is a film that is fun, cool and musical in equal measures. It is a film that no matter how many times you watch it, you will always walk away with a smile on your face ready to face the pressures of life.

#comedy #drama #emiloestavez #anthonymichaelhall