1985 Directed by John Hughes
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.
for years upon years ive always wondered about old peoples fascination with this movie and that shaggy guy with a birdnose and baggy clothes pumping his fist in the air.
i get it now.
I'm now hereby installing The Breakfast Club on The Romancing The Stone Plan and it will be now watched on a bi-annual basis.
And besides, I really did need to watch it today. Bank Holidays are fucking bollocks.
Here's why I'm putting it on the Plan:-
1) Judd Nelson casually swiping some Post-It Notes as he walks into detention.
2) "Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?"
3) The look Nelson gives Anthony Michael Hall when he tries to take his jacket off at the same time.
4) "I'm in math club!"
5) "No, I don't wear tights! I wear the required uniform."
6) "Screws fall out all the time, the world's an imperfect place!"
7) Why is…
I always feel a little apprehensive going into older movies that are so universally loved like the very, very popular The Breakfast Club. Films of this type instill in me all manner of preconceived notions because they are so engrained in the pop culture consciousness and as a result, though I have not seen them, I feel as though I already have. Even though this movie was before my time, I felt optimistic that I would most likely enjoy it to some degree but would also somehow be unable to fully embrace it without the luxury of the added nostalgic good will that often comes from seeing these things in one’s youth. It turns out that The Breakfast Club was…
It captured teenage angst in the eighties so well.
And had a wonderful cast.
And such memorable characters.
And it was hilarious.
And then there's that soundtrack.
Boy, that soundtrack.....
Pauline Kael described The Breakfast Club as “a movie about a bunch of stereotypes who complain that other people see them as stereotypes.” That's certainly true, but The Breakfast Club is also about teenagers who realize that their peers are far more complex than the restrictive labels they're boxed into. That, I think, is what sets the film apart from most other high school comedies. It's funny as hell, but it's also sympathetic and understanding of the choices these teenagers make. That's a rare quality to come across in a film about people who don't yet know who they are. Although the characters will almost certainly retreat into the labels foisted upon them as soon as detention is over, they leave school that day with the knowledge that people are, well, just people. And we all know just how long it takes to understand something as simple as that.
"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,…
A bit tough to embrace the hyperbole here and there (especially given how grounded in realism this film is throughout 90% of its runtime), but the The Breakfast Club definitely holds up.
i definitely regret rewatching this film at 3AM because my mum will most definitely ask me if i had cried because it's so obvious that i did
(also uh... Allison and Brian? yeah, please protect them at all costs)
Scavenger Hunt #39 (23/30)
Task: 24. A pop culture classic that you have somehow missed
oh how i hate the makeover near the end. everything else is golden though and i do get why this is so universally loved. pretty timeless, very well-written, and even though it's confined to (mostly) one room, albeit large, it never feels claustrophobic, not good enough or overused.
i stopped wanting to see this at some point because films that are this popular and praised scare me. so glad i forced myself into giving it a chance, though. it's a classic for a reason.
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