Breakfast Club (1985) hasn't held up well over the years, despite the fact that many people still claim to love it. If you browse through the list of Epinions here, you'll find a lot of overly lavish praise and the average rating is a ridiculous four-and-a-half stars. Ratings at Epinions generally skew high, but I have no doubt that a lot of folks are very fond of this one.

Sorry to be a spoilsport, but I didn't much care for Breakfast Club fifteen years ago and, after seeing it again recently, I can't say my opinion has changed.

Breakfast Club is about five high school students in suburban Chicago forced to spend an entire Saturday in detention. The five are representative of various teenage stereotypes. There's the straight A student played by Anthony Michael Hall (the license plate on his parent's car reads "EMC 2"). There's the jock—a wrestler played by Emilio Estevez ("Repo Man"). Then there's the popular "princess" (well played by Molly Ringwald). And we also have the switchblade-carrying rebel (Judd Nelson) and the shy, withdrawn, kooky basket-case (Ally Sheedy).

With its ensemble cast, the movie is structurally similar to The Big Chill—at the time of its release it was referred to as "The Little Chill"—although it's not nearly as good as that film.

It's written and directed by John Hughes ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off") and the idea is that by forcing this disparate group together (in the school library) they will gradually open up, confess some dirty little inner secrets and bond with one another. Hughes uses the Judd Nelson character as a catalyst—to aggressively challenge the others ("Why don't you close the door and we'll get the prom queen impregnated," he tells Emilio Estevez early on).

The set up for all this—that Mr. Vernon (Paul Gleason), the teacher in charge, would leave them unattended for long stretches—is highly improbable. Hughes has backed himself into a corner—if Mr. Vernon were to stick around he doesn't have anywhere to go—and he'll shuffle him away in an effort to get around it.

He'll make Mr. Vernon a clownish, one-dimensional buffoon, which, if you've watched many of Hughes comedies, you know is a standard formula he follows for principals and parents.

This is the kind of character that doesn't really exist, save for in the movies. He functions only to represent authority, to lay down the ground rules (no talking, no moving, etc.) and then to be the butt of Judd Nelson's jokes: "Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?"

The whole premise of this movie is creaky, but—putting that aside and in all fairness—the movie's not all bad. I liked most of the brat pack's performances, especially Molly Ringwald ("Sixteen Candles") who plays Claire ("It's a family name," she explains).

I also really liked Ally Sheedy's sly, offbeat turn as Allison, until she's given a makeover and slapped back in line by film's end.

Anthony Michael Hall was born to play geeky Brian, who thought he was playing it real cool by taking shop class and can't accept the fact that he got an F on a project. And Emilio Estevez is fine as the father-pleasing must-win varsity letterman.

Judd Nelson's role as the angry, troubled John Bender is a bit tiresome, however, and I didn't much like the way the movie tells us it's not OK to dislike the guy by showing us the cigar burn his father inflicted upon him.

Overall, there's not enough to recommend here.



Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older