The pinnacle of the 1980s high school comedy?

Rating: 5/10 (12 June 2015)

THE BREAKFAST CLUB is certainly a well-regarded and well-remembered film from prolific director John Hughes, but I'm guessing it's a film where you had to be there at the time to get the full impact. I've only seen it for the first time 30 years after it was made, and after that time it feels a little dated and not particularly funny. Certainly not on par with a film like PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, which I saw as a kid and still love today.
There isn't much story here, as this is a single location drama involving a group of high school kids spending time together in detention. Each character is a stereotype on the outside: the prom queen, the jock, the geek, the outsider, even a prototype emo. As the dialogue and the situations progress, we get to know these characters inside out and find out what makes them tick.
You can't fault the acting here, as it's all rather good, particularly from Judd Nelson as the outsider. Paul Gleason is a real hoot as the antagonist teacher. But it's fair to say that all of the characters, outside of Nelson's, are rather dull, and their various problems seem either trivial or rather weak compared to most people's. It's a good idea for a film and I can see why it was a success due to people identifying with it, but I think it's a case where the reputation is better than the actual movie.