An uplifting cult classic

Rating: Null/10 (1 October 2011)

The story of five teenagers in detention on a Saturday morning, all with different stereotypical personalities. It tells the tale of their lives and how by the end of the film they all come together to make an uplifting conclusion.
The one thing that makes The Breakfast Club so unique is how John Hughes uniquely captured the teenage language and the problems students go through at high school. When the film came out the honestly of the film was praised as it tells all the truths throughout the film. As the film is played various themes are outlined. One of the main themes throughout the film is stereotyping. In the film Stereotyping plays a main part, portraying different styles of life and how people deal and live with them. There is a huge contrast between every character as each one is unique and lives a different lifestyle. By dealing with this main theme of stereotyping Hughes had made a film that had become a cult classic.
Another key theme outlined by the film is the maturing or coming of age. At the start of the film all the relationships between the characters are very difficult. As the film gradually goes on the relationships build up and they become friends. At the start of the film the characters are very antagonistic. Another theme outlined by the film is the sympathy towards the characters. Characters start to open up as the film moves along and as some stories of their life spills out.
The hero of the film has to be the bender played by Judd Nelson the criminal of the film. Judd Nelson gives a convincing performance of 'Bender' the criminal. He managed to sway from angry to emotional - making you feel for him when he is describing what things are like in his life. The princess in the film is Claire Standish played by Molly Ringwald. In the film she is somewhat reserved and tries her hardest not to reveal too much information about herself. She seems to be insecure during the course of the film until the end, by finally getting together with bender (Judd Nelson). Throughout the film she doesn't like the way her life is and seems to not be able to love herself. Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez) is your typical athlete on the wrestling team. He seems to be happy in his life apart from another of the key themes in the film which is parental pressure. The parental pressure for him mainly coming from his dad. He makes Andrew seem unloved and unwanted in his life and wanting him to do one thing only, wrestle, making his life a misery. A day in detention in the breakfast club helps him to solve this problem over confrontation. Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) is the final member of The Breakfast Club to be introduced to us. She is certainly the most strangest of all the characters and is quite a content, quite character to start off with. Whenever spoken, it is at her defence of any comment made by the other characters. She suffers from boredom and loneliness, and on top of this is reserved. Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall) is the geek of the group. He is also pressured by parents to do well in life, but in his case to achieve the highest possible grades in his education. Brian is constantly pressured by his parents to do well in school, and this backfires upon receiving a bad grade. The Breakfast Club showed Brian that others have it much worse than him, which built up his confidence.
The other two character that star in the movie and are the janitor and the principal. The janitor Carl is played by John Kapelos. He plays the "eyes and ear of this institution". The last character in the movie is the head teacher Richard Vernon played by Paul Gleason. He always wants to be the one in power and this is shown where he is squared up against bender making out he wanted to fight. He is also known for his vainness ways and how much that he loves himself.
My own personal review on The Breakfast club would be that it is a good eighties flick with many morals and images created by the film. It is famous for its theme coming of age and life captured at a teenagers point of view and still to this day is well known and rated highly. Hughes has created a masterpiece of work. The breakfast club is to this day regarded as one of the best films to be made in the eighties.