Unlike most of us, this film ages well

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2017)

I *love* this film. I am not originally from Chicago, so I was never a big John Hughes fan, although settling here 20 years ago to raise a family definitely deepened my appreciation for his films. Even from my East Coast POV where I lived when the film debuted, and from a West Coast POV where I lived when I first saw it, this is not only Mr. Hughes' masterwork but a "best in class" exemplar of the "teen drama" genre. I made sure that both my kids saw it before they started high school. US High Schools (when I was coming up at least) were so Balkanized then; they seem to be less so today, maybe in-part because we all made our kids watch The Breakfast Club! Yet we (at least I) watch it with a certain nostalgia for the eighties. On one level, it's one long music video. On another, a there act Greek drama (set in a school library, no less, albeit a very cool one). On another, a kitschy Hollywood comedy. One of my favorite films.