An intelligent look beyond high school stereotypes

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2005)

Ah, high school. The best of times? Or the worst? This film gives you a picture of a little bit of both as it intelligently explores five of the people behind the stereotypes.
Five students - Andy (Emilio Estevez), the jock; Brian (Anthony Michael Hall), the brain; Bender (Judd Nelson), the hood; Claire (Molly Ringwald), the princess; and Allison (Ally Sheedy), the basket case - are assigned an all day detention on a Saturday. We are given a glimpse of their relationships with their parents as they are dropped off, and then they are greeted by their principal (Paul Gleason), a somewhat belligerent man who occasionally crosses the line into abuse. Their assignment for the day is to write an essay for the principal, who comes back periodically with the intent to do little else other than abuse them some more. While the five distinctive personalities clash in the beginning, with almost violent results, eventually, boredom and a little pot get them talking with each other, and we see how each of them feels the pressure of their assigned role, and what it's doing to them.
It's a talky movie, so there's little action, although there is a rather amusing - and exciting - "chase scene." The high school it's set in looks depressing enough to suck the life out of anyone, which helps add to the feelings of being trapped that everyone in the movie seems to have. This is used very effectively to tell the story.
What is interesting about this movie is the character portrayal. The characters are distinctive, moving beyond the stereotype to the real person underneath. While these students are perhaps more self aware than we would expect of students that age at that time, they do articulate their angst about life in a believable way. With them, we come to see the similarities in the pressures that their peers and parents put on them, and that they put on themselves. We see how much they dislike the inauthenticity of their lives, and how powerless they feel to stop it. Their powerlessness even relates to their new friendships, as Claire articulates just how hard it would be for them to move beyond their defined boundaries to maintain their friendships with each other. This lack of sugar coating makes for a much more powerful message in the end.
The acting in the film is generally quite good. John Kapelos gives a scene stealing performance as the worldly wise janitor, while Paul Gleason goes way over the top as the principal (to the occasional detriment of the scenes he's in). The leads all give solid performances. Anthony Michael Hall plays the high school nerd to perfection, unable to comprehend that things are not necessarily how he thinks they should be. Molly Ringwald gives enough depth to her performance that you like Claire even though she is spoiled. Emilio Estevez gives us a sense of the anger of someone who has been pushed to bring misery to someone else in order to cover his own insecurities. Ally Sheedy plays her character's strangeness to perfection. But Judd Nelson arguably gives the strongest performance as a disadvantaged teen who knows a lot more than he lets on.
If you don't like psycho babble, this film may not be for you. On the other hand, if you're intrigued by a portrait of teens just beginning to realize who they really are, you will probably enjoy this movie immensely, and you may even learn a little about yourself in the process.