Written and Directed By John Hughes


Emilio Estevez (Andrew Clark)

Anthony Michael Hall (Brian Johnson)

Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish)

Judd Nelson (John Bender)

Ally Sheedy (Allison Reynolds)

Paul Gleason (Principal Richard Vernon)


I was reading some reviews online of John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club" and in one instance, a reviewer chided the film for its supposedly ambivalent ending. True, the ending of this film is a tad ambivalent... point granted. To me though, the ambivalence of the ending is what separates "The Breakfast Club" from all of the other teen angst films that came after it. To ask writer/director John Hughes to wrap up everything in a neat little bow does a disservice to both the characters and the story itself. To me, the ambivalent ending of "The Breakfast Club" gives the film a natural sort of flow. To ask Hughes to end this film on a more conventional note is to ask him to do a one eighty in terms of his screenplay. That's never a wise choice, in my opinion.

I've never been that big of a John Hughes fan, I have to admit. In fact, most of his films have left me cold. I think I got a good feeling about "The Breakfast Club" when the Brian character (Anthony Michael Hall) ponders whether everyone he's sharing a detention day with will still be friends after everything returns to normal. Most films wouldn't have the foresight to actually address this particular issue but "The Breakfast Club" does. It's nice to see that writer/director John Hughes didn't consult the old Hollywood handbook of cliches. See a group of indifferent strangers meet, see them bond, see them forget all about the differences that divide them in the first place.

This isn't to say that John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club" is a perfect film. Far from it. What do I mean? Well, take a look at how the Bender character (Judd Nelson) is written. His whole state of mind seems to shift whenever the plot dictates that it has to.

One minute we see Bender with his defenses down and then, as if by the magic of the plot, he's lashing out at someone for the sake of dramatic tension. I also have a slight issue with director John Hughes as well, his need to telegraph things for the audience. There's a moment where Bender (Nelson) re-enacts a scene from his brutal home life and it comes equipped with a "rage more" sound track behind it that emphasizes Bender's status as a rebel with issues. The sub-text of this scene is pretty clear, there simply isn't a need for writer/director John Hughes to draw us a map.

Plot: This is the tale of five very different high school students. There's a jock named Andrew (Emilio Estevez) a rebel named Bender (Judd Nelson) a brain named Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) a princess named Claire (Molly Ringwald) and a basket case named Allison (Ally Sheedy.) These five, all from various social cliques, seem to have absolutely nothing in common. That is, until they're all forced to spend a Saturday in detention together. Over the course of a long Saturday, these five students begin to realize that they have alot more in common than they thought they did. I'll stop there, you can decipher the rest of the plot on your own.

I think that what sets "The Breakfast Club" apart from the rest of the teen angst movie muck that came after it is the fact that writer/director John Hughes actually takes the time to flesh out his cast of angst filled teen-agers. The characters in "The Breakfast Club" aren't just vapid caricatures who speak "teen-ager" and function on a purely superficial level. When these characters all let their guard down during the middle act of the film, it has a natural sort of feel to it. While writer/director John Hughes has a propensity for manufactured theatrics, he handles each character "confessional" with a very even hand. I'm thinking of the moment where Andrew (Estevez) talks about the pressure he feels from his dad to be a winner at all costs. There's no "rage more" sound track behind this moment, no fancy camera tricks designed to illustrate the emotional gravity of the moment; there's just Hughes' camera, positioned directly on Andrew as he pours his heart out.

I think the amazing thing about this film is how it manages to be quite funny without sacrificing its overall continuity. This is probably because writer/director John Hughes is wise enough to simply pick his spots. The humor of "The Breakfast Club" always seems to be situation based in nature. In other words, it never seems like this film is trying to be funny for the sake of being funny. Hughes script has a very nice balance of comedy and drama as well, never to much or to little of either element.

Performances: If were going to start with the negatives, we might as well start with Paul Gleason (Principal Vernon.) I don't fault Gleason as much as I do the screenplay itself. Let's face it, the Vernon character is designed to be a source of comic relief because of his obliviousness. At times, the sheer pomposity of this character is very off putting. Who wants to spend 98 minutes with a character who thinks that he can earn respect by thumping his chest and belittling people?

Judd Nelson, though hampered by a plot that makes his character a bit mechanical in nature, proves his mettle by not over playing the "rebel" card. Nelson's performance has an easy going quality about, very natural. He manages to tell us what need to know about John Bender without making it all seem like a overly dramatic "put on.

Ringwald and Estevez also handle themselves well, smoothly shifting into the next gear when the middle act of this film takes a dramatic turn of sorts.

Anthony Michael Hall as Brian manages to provide a geeky sense of comic relief without making his character seem downright annoying. Like Ringwald and Estevez, Hall manages to smoothly shift gears when the films tone becomes a but heavier during the second act.

In all honesty, I was kind of indifferent towards Ally Sheedy's performance as Allison (the basket-case.) I don't have anything negative nor positive to say about it. There aren't any glaring deficiencies with Sheedy's performance nor are there any "wow" moments to speak of. I guess you could say, she's capable enough as an actress that she doesn't sink the entire film. In other words, she's not a glaring void as far as the rest of the cast is concerned.

Final Thoughts: Are there moments in this film that make you go... "hmm?" Absolutely. I know that the Vernon character is an ego centric fool written for comic relief but it's a little convenient for him not to get a whiff of the marijuana being smoked by the characters during the "confessional" portion of the film. No matter, John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club" is a timeless eighties gem that will still keep you entertained... no matter how many times you've seen it. It's funny and smart and the good work by the cast is a pleasant surprise. Besides, I'm all for a film that takes a slightly unconventional road in terms of its ending.