Audio in Montage

Rating: 10/10 (3 July 2003)

John Hughes will never win an Oscar for 'Original Screenplay', not even with "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". His films focus on white, middle-class teens of varying stereotypes. Here, he throws everything into the blender.
What surprised me about "The Breakfast Club" was the level of silence. I'm serious, there is almost an equivalent level of quiet as in "2001: A Space Odyssey". Whereas Kubrick used that silence for a purpose, Hughes must have run out of time in production. Of course, when music is used in "Breakfast Club", it's not Blue Danube Waltz.
The library is too large to create any mood, but, with a movie like this, don't expect an "ALIEN" level of quality in production design. The editor must have been on vacation because the movie could have been 15 minutes shorter and made stronger because of it. John Hughes' director of photography doesn't catch many memorable images, although Emilio Esteves' monologue is delivered with an obvious pan around reminiscent of "Reservoir Dogs". He will never be a notable character actor, whereas everyone else seems to have a grip on their ideas--except when they're overacting. Question the social issues and problems that are smeared around like bloodstains all you want, I haven't the time for it.
Dialogue is the movie's only asset. Some of the conversations are rather...how should I say...enlightened for a bunch of teenage miscreants. Much of it is Hughes' standard recycled propaganda that he continued repeating, but he's not Kevin Smith. Had Smith made this movie there would have been many changes, but how effective would they have been? Indeed, the entire plot is hostage in a prison that never releases any new or inventive ideas. The adults are the typical Hughes incompetents who 'don't understand' and the kids admit that they hate their parents. What else is new? Still, "The Breakfast Club" is worth watching for the minority that it appeals to as long as they aren't decayed from the wave of 'Modern Teenage Comedies'. Just thinking about THOSE makes my head hurt.
Overall, 3 out of 5 stars. Love it or leave it, I still enjoyed it.