Rating of
3.5/4
The Breakfast Club review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 11/21/11
Setting is in Shermer High School, 1984. A silent talented drawer kleptomaniac "Basket Case" named Allison (Sheedy) had nothing better to do, the popular "Princess" Claire (Ringwald) who got detained because of skipping school to shop, Brian (Hall) the "Brain" was punished because he had a flare gun that went off and wanted to commit suicide, Andrew (Estevez) "The Athlete" bullied a teammate and Bender (Nelson) "The Criminal" set off a fire alarm have been detained by Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason) for 8 hours. Each personality develop a bond finding out each others flaws and family backgrounds. Memorable quotes from the movie: John Bender - "Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place." Andrew - "We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all." Claire - "I hate having to go along with everything my friends say." Vernon - "You ought to spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people."
Much like 12 Angry Men, the location of the entire picture is just in one room where conversations run freely. Judd Nelson was brilliant, bringing the fire and energy, Sheedy whose misfit character brings the humor. To make it work, the artists should have authentic acting, screenplay should be engaging coupled with an enticing soundtrack from the Simpleminds, which was very effective here. The only details I considered weird was how the marijuana smoke wasn't noticed, how swiftly Claire fell for Bender and how Andrew and Allison became a couple when there was no romantic connection injected in the film. In any case, so many subjects such as friendship, choices (getting high, answering back, breaking school property, how time is spent, etc.), bad parenting, life's indignities, individuality, and peer pressure among others. The Breakfast Club is a re-watchable film that makes its a classic on its own.
