I think I loved this movie before I even saw it.

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2000)

I usually detest "high school movies," where the cliches run rampant and a huge deal is made out of the Prom or the Big Game. That's why my first viewing of "The Breakfast Club" yesterday was such a nice experience. This is the ultimate teenaged angst film, one that rings much truer to life than such pale attempts as "Cruel Intentions" or "Varsity Blues." The story is so simple, it's amazing how deep it goes. Five kids in clearly delineated roles, the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the princess, and the criminal, find themselves stuck together in Saturday detention, and figure out they're all really pretty much the same.
The mood of the film feel right, the isolation, the funny feeling of promise and doom mixed together. I must have seen television ads for this a hundred times when I was younger, but never watched it. I'm glad my first viewing was of the video version with all the swearing and marijuana left in. These elements may not be pretty, but they keep the film grounded and realistic. I'd say it's aged pretty well, as the archetypes and the questions of identity haven't changed a bit. 10/10