The Breakfast Club
1985 Directed by John Hughes
Synopsis
They only met once, but it changed their lives forever.
In this 1980s Brat Pack film, the athlete, the brain, the criminal, the princess and the basket case break through the social barriers of high school during Saturday detention. The disparate group clashes at first but begin to bond as they reveal their feelings and find a common enemy in their bully principal.
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"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all"
Okay, now I see why this is regarded as a classic. There is not one moment in this film in which something brilliant is not happening. No, seriously, check. You've got the opening which instantly clues us in to the characters' home lives that are explored in detail later on. Then we're introduced to the characters themselves - sports star Andy, geeky Brian, popular girl Claire, outcast Allison and "criminal" Bender, acted amazingly by, well everyone. Really - the whole cast is great. Whilst first presented as being nothing more than the stereotypes their principal regards them as, the film almost immediately starts deconstructing them,…
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John Hughes' directorial efforts are fascinating films in that they seem to have their time period, the 80's, firmly ingrained in each and every frame of them and yet remain so damn watchable even after 30 years. You'd think The Breakfast Club would really show its age by now but it - like many of Hughes' movies – is still highly enjoyable with several laugh-out-loud humor segments and a certain charm about it. I have yet to see a bunch of his stuff but if I were to choose my favourite it would without a doubt be the irresistible Uncle Buck, a childhood favourite of mine that I can still revisit and fall in love with even after all these…
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Yet another film I've seen too many times to count. Everything about this movie is perfect, and I never tire of it.
People will write a lot of insightful things about The Breakfast Club -- I'm looking at you, danielm -- comments much cleverer than I could write. So I will leave it to them to analyze. I only want to share one insight I grabbed from this viewing:
The Breakfast Club is accidentally timeless.
Watch Sixteen Candles or Can't Hardly Wait, and you'll see films stuck in their era. The fashions and dialogue and cars and technology all scream the time period. But this film doesn't do that. Yes, there's some 80's fashion and slang. But by putting the…
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It took me over sixteen years to finally get around to seeing this masterwork. Without a doubt the best coming of age movie I've seen, The Breakfast Club made me me feel almost every feeling that it's possible to feel. It's very rare that a film can touch me, sadden me and overjoy me all at once, sometimes within the same five minutes. Even if the rest of the film was poor, I would be tempted to give the film a star for each of its five leads, every one of them representing their differing cliques with class and style. The journey they go on during their detention together changes their lives forever, and I'm pretty sure it has changed mine, as well. Truly beautiful in every single way.
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Dear Letterboxd, I accept the fact that I had to sacrifice an early night to correct what I’d done wrong for so many years. But I think you’re crazy to ask me to write a review telling you how this film made me feel. I saw it as everyone has seen it...in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what I’ve found is an unmissable experience...and remarkable performances...and a deeply affecting narrative...and quintessentially eighties stylistics...and a cinematic masterpiece. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, Lee Curtis
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So many films I've seen recently favour telling story over character development, but rely on my involvement with the characters for the story to have impact. I'm always left feeling empty.
Not so with The Breakfast Club. I have given this 5 stars. The relationships develop from nothing to an uneasy and honest familiarity. The journey of the relationships is all on screen, it makes sense and I think it speaks to the audience. On top of that the dialogue and acting is top notch.
Years ago TV was the short-form of the visual art and film the long. Now TV is the long-form, with story arcs in excess of 20 hours, and film is the short story (certain excessive works on films exempted). The Breakfast Club exemplifies this. It doesn't attempt too much. It perfectly captures one day, five "children", and shows us who they are.
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Classic 80s movie. The Breakfast Club is probably one of my favorite films. The way it brings together five individuals who are so different from each other is an amazing thing to watch. It makes you realize how superficial high schoolers can be. Particularly in this film, they all put their differences aside and after only one day in detention together, they form a bond that will change all of their lives forever. Also, the ending is pretty damn epic; best movie ending ever.
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Moral of the story: The only way to win the hearts of hunky wrestlers is to wear white clothes and pretty, pretty makeup.
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A bit of heart, a bit of soul, but not nearly as much as I was expecting. Most of the characters grated on me by the end of it.
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Cringeworthy.
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This just one of those very rare perfect films that I doubt anyone could ever make again. The cast is perfection together, and the theme song is one of the best songs from a movie or ever really. Every time I hear that song, you can just see images from this movie, cause it is rare, but not impossible, to sum up the whole movie in a song and they knocked it out of the park.
I like how the film starts with everyone being a cliche, but we learn that not everyone is who they seem. They are vastly different that their image would say they are.
Gleason is just fantastic as the Principal, but all five leads are…
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a really great parody of those couple of scenes from Not Another Teen Movie.
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This is a film that I enjoy on a fairly regular basis, and is easily one of my favourite John Hughes films. Watching it back-to-back with Sixteen Candles (1984) was also an interesting experience as it was easy to see just how far Hughes had progressed as a director in just one year - this is a far more accomplished film. Five high school stereotypes find themselves hauled into school on a Saturday for detention, presided over by Paul Gleason's ball-busting Richard Vernon. The story is very much character driven and everyone is just superb in their roles, but the real star of the show for me is Judd Nelson as John Bender who really drives the majority of the…
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John Hughes' directorial efforts are fascinating films in that they seem to have their time period, the 80's, firmly ingrained in each and every frame of them and yet remain so damn watchable even after 30 years. You'd think The Breakfast Club would really show its age by now but it - like many of Hughes' movies – is still highly enjoyable with several laugh-out-loud humor segments and a certain charm about it. I have yet to see a bunch of his stuff but if I were to choose my favourite it would without a doubt be the irresistible Uncle Buck, a childhood favourite of mine that I can still revisit and fall in love with even after all these…