Great lesson for all ages!

Rating: 7/10 (6 February 2011)

The Breakfast Club is a story that almost everyone that has made it through high school can relate to. Whether you're the jock, the princess, the nerd, the loner, the delinquent or another stereotype there is a familiar scene in this movie for you.
Saturday detention is full of likely and unlikely participants that morning. Andrew (Emilio Estevez), the jock, we learn is in detention for taping a boy's behind together in gym class. Clair (Molly Ringwald), the princess, has skipped class to go shopping. Brian (Anthony Michael Hall), the nerd, has been caught with a flare gun in his locker because it went off! Allison (Ally Sheedy), the loner, showed up Saturday because she literally didn't have anything better to do! Lastly, Bender (Judd Nelson), the delinquent, pulled the fire alarm as a prank to earn him a seat there that Saturday morning. The theme of the movie deals with social problems. It portrays five vastly different people thrown together who discover their similarities and become friends.
The lighting on the film was primarily high-key lighting. This lighting created powerful images especially when the angles were close up on the characters faces. This effect is best displayed during one of the final scenes when all the characters are revealing why they are in detention. The angles and lighting used are able to showcase their emotions. The final scene with Principle Vernon (Paul Gleason) reading the letter written by Brian on behalf of the entire club" also demonstrates the use of angles and lighting. The elements used create a dramatic, yet emotional impact. The frame starts tight and gradually widens out as Principal Vernon is reading the letter. The letter states what all five detention participates had learned about themselves and the world, not how they actually saw themselves when they left the library that day. They entered in separate worlds as the jock, the princess, the nerd, the loner and the delinquent. The left as five teenagers who discovered who they could be-whatever they wanted not who they were expected to be.