wonderful John Hughes film

Rating: 8/10 (15 March 2013)

John Hughes wrote and directed this '80s film, "The Breakfast Club," starring some young up and comings: Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, John Kapelos, and Paul Gleason.
The story concerns five high school students who are forced by the principal (Gleason) to serve detention for eight hours on a Saturday and to write an essay on who they think they are. There's the troublemaker/big mouth, John Bender (Nelson) who manages to end up with something like two months of Saturday's worth of detention by the time he's done; the rich, pretty girl, Claire Standish (Ringwald), a strange girl who makes noises but doesn't speak, Allison (Sheedy), a nerd, Brian (Hall), and and the sports star (Estevez).
They're not supposed to talk but of course they do, and at first, this takes the form of insults. Then they start sneaking around, smoking dope, talking about their families, their problems, and their secrets, and before you know it, they have all formed some sort of a connection.
This is such a wonderful film, about kids who for one reason or another, feel like outcasts and find out that just about everyone does feel like an outcast in high school. The things they hide behind are stripped away and the real people are exposed.
The acting is wonderful, with top honors going to Nelson, who without a doubt has the showiest role, and Estevez, who delivers a powerful monologue at the end. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I realized that this young blond kid was Anthony Michael Hall, whom I only knew from Dead Zone - but there was no mistaking that face. Paul Gleason is a riot as the harried principal, who feels totally out of touch with the students.
Highly recommended - The Breakfast Club is one of the best youth films of the '80s or ever probably, with the great John Hughes touches that help make it a remarkable experience for the viewer.