The Breakfast Club

Let’s rewind the clocks back to the year 1984. A lot of Real Life Events happened back in the day. Notable films including Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom, Gremlins, A Nightmare On Elm Street, and Ghostbusters came out in theaters, Ronald Reagan won the presidential election, allowing him to extend his term, Apple Inc. introduced The Macintosh Personal Computer, Marvin Gaye was shot by his father, The first MTV Music Awards aired on TV, Michael Jackson earned his star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and last but not least, the biggest song of the year was George Michael’s Careless Whisper, which is also Deadpool’s favorite song of all time.

Fictional Events also happened such as, 1984 (the novel) takes place in the titular year, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, begins with Venom Snake tracking down Skullface’s whereabouts, The Terminator goes back in time to assassinate Sarah Connor, Stranger Things Season 2 begins With Will suffering from side effects from The Upside Down, and five teens go to Saturday detention and discovered that they all have something in common. The five teens I’m referring to, are the main characters from The Breakfast Club.

The Breakfast Club was released in 1985. It received critical acclaim from critics and movie goers alike, as well as making a profit at the box office. The film is directed by John Hughes, (Ferris Buller, Sixteen Candles, Home Alone, among many others) which is considered his Magnum Opus besides Ferris Buller. His frequent collaborators are referred as The Brat Pack, who are young actors known for starring in coming of age films.

If you weren’t around in The 80’s, the following review contains no big fat SPOILERS. You’re allowed to read this article, if you haven’t seen this movie.

Positive & Negative Elements

Positive: The Five Leads consisting of Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, (Charlie Sheen’s real life brother) Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, & Ally Sheedy, all did a good job on their performances as stereotypes that are fleshed out as three dimensional people who are more than just a stereotype from a specific social class.

Fun Fact: Nicolas Cage, auditioned for the role as Bender, until John Hughes said that he wasn’t intimidating enough to fit the part.

Bender from Futurama is named after Judd Nelson’s character, they’re both considered criminals/meatbags, but deep down, they have redeeming qualities. I’ll have to give this pro an Extra Point for encouraging Matt Groening for coming up with a character based on Bender’s personality.

The Best Line in my opinion is, “Hey, smoke it up Johnny!”

Cinematography didn’t contain any Shaky Cam throughout.

A Title Card begins with a quote from the late David Bowie.

The Opening Narration confirms that the movie takes place in 1984. I will consider this a Period Piece.

John Hughes himself, makes a cameo appearance as Brian’s father.

Character Development involving The Five Leads, as the movie progresses, they begin to flesh out.

Speaking of Matt Groening, one of Bender’s lines also went on to inspire Bart’s catchphrase. Guess which one Simpsons fans?

Dialogue is very memorable. This is considered one of the most quotable movies of all time. I can’t believe The Academy Awards didn’t select this as Best Original Screenplay. I’m surprised that Quentin Tarantino borrowed “Two hits, I hit you, you hit the ground,” for Inglorious Basterds.

We get to learn on why each of the five leads landed in Saturday detention in the first place.

Besides a certain reason for attending Saturday detention, you’re gonna be appalled on their personal backstories.

Before Henry Cavill’s Emo Superman, Ally Sheedy’s character, Allison, is perhaps the first Emo character to exist in cinematic history. She’s more believable than Henry Cavill. I gotta love the way she concocts a sandwich.

Similar to Reservoir Dogs, Clerks, and The Hateful Eight, or Bottle Episodes from various TV shows, The Setting for the film takes place in one location.

A Dance Scene felt appropriate as a heartwarming moment for The Five Leads. I didn’t think it was stupid at all.

Negative: Product Placement features only two brand, Coke and Nike. I’ll give this con a pass, because I couldn’t find anything else besides two brands to shove it in my face.

Note From 2020: If you’re easily offended by dated gay slurs, it is best to steer clear from this movie. The 80’s had The AIDS Epidemic when some fuckin’ asshole like Isaiah Washington believes gay people were spreading an epidemic. I have nothing against the LBGT community.

Call me a biased cynic, but one of the clichés I don’t like, is a Freeze Frame at the very end. It makes me want to make fun of it by narrating a cliffhanger from a television drama.

The Final Verdict: B, FOR BREAKOUT!

Despite being dated, The Breakfast Club, is a satisfying anomaly involving relatable characters in a dialogue driven film as real feeling people that we can all relate to one other. If John Hughes were alive today, he could’ve developed a follow up as a High School reunion setting, with The Five Leads reuniting together. If I were you, I would implore you to watch this picture immediately and introduce your kids to this classic gem!

If it weren’t for The Breakfast Club, Kevin Smith would’ve never had a career as a director, because he credits John Hughes for coming up with his own kind of dialogue driven material for his work, especially Clerks, the one that kickstarted Kevin’s career.