Who Would've Thought...

Rating: 9/10 (3 November 2004)

There have been countless great stories told over time, so much so it's a wonder where directors get original ideas anymore. If someone told me now (much less back in 1985) that making a movie about five teenagers spending a Saturday in detention was going to top the charts, I wouldn't have believed them. But I'd be wrong, as that is exactly what "The Breakfast Club" did/does.
This film leaves an immortal quality with it because it's so archetypal or universal. It shows use the insides of a group of teenagers who might, on the surface, appear totally different from one another but realize they are more alike than they ever could imagine. The brilliance in the film is in introducing five characters together, watching the hostilities/personas flare, and then seeing the stereotypes fade away as the "delinquents" begin to bond. All of this transpires during an era (the 80's) that seemed to leave its own legacy, producing "The Breakfast Club" in its wake. And childhood stars back then went on to become greater things: Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall (reminds me of my brother), and Ally Sheedy. Obviously, much of this cast needs no introduction and in seeing "The Breakfast Club" it's obvious how talented they were, especially Ringwald and Hall who were 17 at the time. It's sort of strange how in most films or television series they use older actors to play younger roles. Seeing Judd Nelson stomp around and act like a seventeen or eighteen old when he was really twenty-six at the time is hilarious in retrospect. It's makes Ringwald and Hall's performances all the more miraculous in being able to deliver the goods at such a young age (but then again maybe they were just acting like themselves at the time).
I really can't give any part of the movie away to readers. But my belabored emphasis is because it's so good. It takes everything that makes a teenager a teenager (all the pastimes, rights of passage, peer pressure, and acting cool) and bottles it all up and shakes it around. Out come the pieces of five individuals who spend the day together and realize more about life (and themselves) than probably most people do. 9/10!