The Uncanny Revelations of Saturday Detention: The Breakfast Club

Rating: 10/10 (2 October 2013)

The Breakfast Club, written and directed by John Hughes in 1985, has an award-winning cast that will blow any audience away, young or old. The film encompasses all of the different characteristics that compose the never ending clique-oriented aspects of high school including the jock, the emotionally conflicted rebel, the thief, prom queen, and (of course) the brain. Locked in a room together for the majority of their Saturday afternoon in detention they discover that maybe the theories they had about another are actually conceived by false interpretations they have developed based on biased opinions of their own secluded cliques and family backgrounds. They learn they have more in common with another than they had ever imagined.
Andy (Emilio Estevez), Brian (Anthony Hall), John (Judd Nelson), Claire (Molly Ringwald), and Allison (Ally Sheedy) are shoved in a room together when their curiosity gets the best of them, questions fester, and fights begin. By isolating them Hughes gives them a chance to understand that everyone faces tribulations that may compare to peers, but each individual has different ways of getting past trials. Some steal, some focus on school, some work hard to impression the hard-headed, and others revert to a shell for safety. By doing this, Hughes shows that every person is different, but everyone has things in common. People cannot find the similarities unless they break free of preconceived notions and open their mind to new possibilities. This movie sparked a specific interest to me because of its barrier-breaking theme. Being the sap I was in high school I reverted to books and movies to understand the trials I was facing. I always saw people as people and never understood the concept of cliques or seclusion, so to see a movie that broke through those perceptions poked at my curiosity. To get an inside look at the idea of relationships based upon individualism and not social stature captured my interest immediately. I love this movie, what it promotes, and stands for. John Hughes picked a great cast and did a phenomenal job making this movie. Movie goers who haven't seen it purchase it now!