And you thought that your problems were extreme

Rating: 7/10 (30 August 2005)

The very first Brat Pack flick (there had been others but not with the entire group). There are only a few missing like Rob Lowe and Demi Moore from St. Elmo's Fire. It is nothing like any of the undergraduate slob films like Porky's and the MeatBalls series. This flick tries to take teen angst seriously and it examines the various types you will find in high school, like the jock, the nerd, etc.
Judd Nelson gives the performance he would be called upon to do again and again, the angry loner who has a terrible home life and who always seems to know everything much better than you. Not that his acting isn't good here but you get weary of seeing him shout and be provocative to everybody in the course of almost 2 hours. He would retread his character here in "Blue City" and "Fandango" and finally he couldn't get any choice films to his credit. The other Brat Packers do not have as flashy a presence as Nelson and you can see why they had trouble finding work after the craze was over.
As for the film itself it is rather original. To set almost the entire movie in a class room was a bit of a gamble, especially since such high voltage action films like Beverly Hills Cop and Top Gun would dominate the box office for most of the middle to late 80's. There has to be some pretty impressive dialog to hold the audience's interest and nobody could write it like John Hughes. The fact that the F-word is spoken frequently was probably shocking to a lot of adults at the time and that is probably why it has an "R" rating.
Be warned, though, that this is not a comedy and anyone who is expecting it will be sorely disappointed. John Hughes has also written great comedies like "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" but the mood of this picture can be interpreted as terribly depressing. There are some scattered laughs but it is only because the adult characters, especially the principal is such buffoons that you laugh derisively at them. All in all I will say that even though the pace is enormously slow the viewing of this film should not be missed because after all the Brat Pack was talented and they were fun to watch.