The Breakfast Club (1985)

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.

Director:

John Hughes

Writer:

John Hughes

Stars:

Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

They were five students with nothing in common, faced with spending a Saturday detention together in their high school library. At 7 a.m., they had nothing to say, but by 4 p.m., they had bared their souls to each other and become good friends. To the outside world they were simply a Brain, an Athlete, a Basket Case, a Princess, and a Criminal, but to each other, they would always be the Breakfast Club.

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Plot Keywords:

student | detention | high school | high school student | marijuana | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Breakfast Club

Filming Locations:

Deerfield High School - 1959 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$38,100,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

A&M Films, Channel Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Claire's entire ensemble was purchased specially for the character from a Ralph Lauren store, the only one in Chicago at the time. John Hughes had rejected the original costume on the grounds that it wasn't sophisticated enough.

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Goofs

At the end of the film when Brian was writing the essay/letter, he kisses the paper. There is nothing written on the paper.

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Quotes

Brian Johnson: I'm a fucking idiot because I can't make a lamp?
John Bender: No. You're a genius because you can't make a lamp.

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Crazy Credits

Opens with the following which then explodes from the screen. "And these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds; are immune to your consultations, they are quite aware of what they are going through." -David Bowie

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Connections

Spoofed in The Big Sleaze (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Dream Montage"
(uncredited)
Written by Gary Chang
Performed by Ed Alton, Gary Chang, 'Curt Taylor Neishloss'
[Played during the detention scene without dialogue in the school library]

User Reviews

The cream of the crop in 80's fare.

This movie is one of the best, if not THE best, 80's film there is. The fact is, every teen character in this movie can be related to someone we knew in high-school. As a child of the 80's, I can honestly say that this is a representative cross-section of every high school in North America. The geek, the jock, the outcast, the rich pretty-girl snob, and the future criminal. They all exist, to some degree or another, in the classrooms of every high school on the continent.

What makes this film rise above the rest is the character development. Every character in this film is three-dimensional. They all change, in one way or another, by the end of the film. Whether or not things remain the way they are long after this film ends is unknown, and that adds to the rama. The most important scene in this film is when the characters, as a group, all open up to one-another and describe the hell that their daily school routines are in a personal fashion. Nobody likes the role they must inevitably portray in the high-school scene, but the fact is, it is often inescapable. This film gives the viewer some insight into how the other people around them might have felt during that particular time in their lives.

Each of the main characters in this film shines, but Judd Nelson (John Bender) and Emilio Estevez (Andrew Clark) rise above the rest. Simply put, these two actors each put their heart and soul into their respective characters, and it shows.

At the end of the film, the viewer is left to make their own conclusions as to how things will carry forth. And I'm sure that most people will do that. This is one movie that left me feeling both happy and sad for each of the characters, and it isn't easy to make me care about a film in that way. Even if you aren't a fan of the 80's genre, this isn't one you would want to miss.

My Rating: 10/10