The Breakfast Club (1985)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

John Hughes

Writer:

John Hughes (written by)

Release Date:

15 February 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

They only met once, but it changed their lives forever.

Plot:

Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought.

Plot Keywords:

Detention | Principal | Jock | High School | Marijuana

Cast

Emilio Estevez	...	Andrew Clark
Paul Gleason	...	Richard Vernon
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Brian Johnson
John Kapelos	...	Carl
Judd Nelson	...	John Bender
Molly Ringwald	...	Claire Standish
Ally Sheedy	...	Allison Reynolds
Perry Crawford	...	Allison's Father
Mary Christian	...	Brian's Sister
Ron Dean	...	Andy's Father
Tim Gamble	...	Claire's Father
Fran Gargano	...	Allison's Mom
Mercedes Hall	...	Brian's Mom

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Brazil:Livre (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Finland:K-14 | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R (Certificate No. 27628) | West Germany:12 | Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

A&M Films

Trivia:

Any hope of a sequel to "The Breakfast Club" was basically dashed due to the volatile relationship between John Hughes and Judd Nelson. John Hughes has stated that he would never work with Nelson again. Also, it is unclear whether or not Hughes still holds ill-will against his oft-cast starlet, Molly Ringwald. They had a falling out in the late eighties after Ringwald decided to move on from the teen film genre to pursue more adult roles, thus severing her relationship with Hughes.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the beginning of the movie Bender has two matching shoes, in the gym he has one white shoe and one black. In that same scene he loses one shoe, but a scene later he has two matching shoes again. This is because he's stolen a pair of shoes and only puts one on, then later the other.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Andrew Clark: So... what's your poison?
[no answer]
Andrew Clark: ...Ok, forget I asked.
Allison Reynolds: Vodka.
Andrew Clark: Vodka? When do you drink vodka.
Allison Reynolds: Whenever.
Andrew Clark: How much?
Allison Reynolds: Tons.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Swanland (2008)

Soundtrack:

Heart Too Hot To Hold

Quite simply one of the best teen films of the 80s

Five teenagers are assigned detention on a Saturday morning and afternoon. They are a jock (Emilio Estevez), a hood (Judd Nelson), a rich girl (Molly Ringwald), a geek (Anthony Michael Hall) and a basket case (Ally Sheedy). During the course of the detention (and with a little help from marijuana) they open up and talk and begin to know each other.

A dead on target examination of teen life in 1984/85. This was a very challenging thing to do--release a film about teens just talking and relating to each other. It also was (unjustly) awarded an R rating for the frequent swearing--but that's how high schoolers talk!

I was in college when this came out, but I saw it with a friend who was still in high school. According to him the movie got everything right--the clothes, dialogue, styles and music were accurate. He said it was one of the few movies that showed how he felt. But the movie isn't all serious and depressing...there are some truly hilarious lines.

The cast: Estevez (what ever happened to...) is just great as the jock. He gives a very believable and moving performance especially in a speech about his father. Nelson, however, is horrible as the hood. He looks the part but he's way too eloquent and his acting was pretty bad. Ringwald and Hall are perfect in their roles, but they WERE teenagers when this was filmed. Sheedy does what she can with a criminally underwritten role. John Kapelos (as a janitor) is hardly in it (I'm assuming his part was severely cut) and Paul Gleason (a good actor) is given a very 1-dimensional role--the evil adult. He does what he can with it.

The movie isn't perfect--parents are the root of all the kids problems; there are annoying lapses in logic (like how does Ringwald get to see Nelson at the end and Sheedys character wasn't assigned detention, so wouldn't Gleason know that) and there is a whole dance sequence squeezed in.

Still--a truly great teenage movie. A definite must-see. A bonus is that the movie opens with one of the best songs of the 1980s (and a big hit)--Simple Minds "Don't You Forget About Me"

"Who'd your mom marry--Mr. Rogers?" "No--Mr. Johnson"