The Breakfast ClubFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen film widely considered as the definitive work in the genre. Written and directed by John Hughes, the storyline follows five teenagers (each representing a different clique in high school) as they spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all deeper than their respective stereotypes. The film has become a cult classic and has had a tremendous influence on many coming-of-age films since then. The film was shot entirely in sequence. Shooting began on March 28, 1984 and ended in May 1984.
Plot:
The plot follows five students at fictional Shermer High School in the widely used John Hughes setting of Shermer, Illinois (a fictitious suburb of Chicago based on Hughes' hometown of Northbrook, Illinois, which was originally called Shermerville; Shermer is a street in Northbrook, and the school in Northbrook, Glenbrook North High School is on Shermer), as they report for Saturday detention on March 24, 1984. Complete strangers, the five teenagers are all from a different clique or social group:
Claire Standish: Molly Ringwald (16)
The Princess: a wealthy, popular and spoiled girl
Skipping school to go shopping at a mall
John Bender: Judd Nelson (26)
The Criminal: a troublemaker who continually causes problems at school
Pulling the fire alarm. It is implied that Bender is often in detention
Brian Johnson: Anthony Michael Hall (16)
The Brain: a nerd
Bringing a flare gun to school (in a parasuicidal gesture) that accidentally discharged in his locker, causing minor property damage
Andrew Clark: Emilio Estévez (21)
The Athlete: a state champion wrestler
Taping a fellow student's (Larry Lester's) buttocks together
Allison Reynolds: Ally Sheedy (21)
The Basket Case: a misfit, kleptomaniac, and self-described "compulsive liar"
Nothing better to do (according to her)
The students pass the hours in a variety of ways: they dance, harass each other, tell stories, fight, smoke marijuana, and speak on a variety of subjects. Gradually they open up to each other and reveal their inner secrets (for example, Allison is a kleptomaniac and a compulsive liar and Brian and Claire are ashamed of their virginity). They also discover that they all have strained relationships with their parents and are afraid of making the same mistakes as the adults around them. However, despite these developing friendships, the students are afraid that once the detention is over, they will return to their very different cliques and never speak to each other again.At the request and consensus of the students, Brian is asked to write the essay Mr. Vernon assigned earlier (the subject of which was to be a synopsis by each student detailing "who you think you are"), which challenges Mr. Vernon and his preconceived judgments about all of them. Brian does so, but instead of writing about the actual topic he writes a very motivating letter that is in essence, the main point of the story. He signs the essay as "The Breakfast Club" and leaves it at the table for Mr. Vernon to read when they leave. There are two versions of this letter, one read at the beginning and one at the end, and they are slightly different; illustrating the change in the student's judgments of one another, and their realization that they truly have things in common.
The beginning letter is as follows:
The end letter is as follows:
Brian Johnson: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...
Andrew Clark: ...an athlete...
Allison Reynolds: ...a basket case...
Claire Standish: ...a princess...
John Bender: ...and a criminal...
Brian Johnson: Does that answer your question?... Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.
The letter is the focal point of the film, as it demonstrates and illustrates the changes the students went through during the course of the day; their attitudes and perspectives have changed and are now completely different. The movie ends as the characters leave detention.
Main characters:
* Andrew Clark: (Emilio Estévez) Andrew is the film's athlete, in detention for beating a fellow student and taping his buttocks together. Andrew, like Claire, is ashamed of being in detention and is used to the better end of social life at school. Andrew hates his father for pushing him so hard to succeed and even wants his bum knee to give so his father could not drive him to be the best athlete.
* Claire Standish: (Molly Ringwald) The princess of the group, in detention for skipping class to go shopping. She is used to being sheltered by her group of friends and doting parents who only pamper her in order to spite each other, a fact of which she is painfully aware. Claire is caught between her parents who seem to use her to get back at each other. Claire eats sushi for lunch.
* John Bender: (Judd Nelson) The criminal of the group, in detention for pulling a false fire alarm. John Bender starts many of the events throughout the film. While he is hostile at first towards the others in the room with him, he defends Allison against Principal Vernon ("She doesn't talk, sir."). Despite Bender's constant needling of the others in detention, they lie to Vernon to protect John after he escaped his solitary confinement (exacted when he allowed himself to get caught in the gymnasium while the others ran for it) and snuck back into the library through a ceiling vent. At home, John is a victim of child abuse, particularly by his father, who (he says) administered a cigar burn to his arm for spilling paint in the garage. His antics and smart mouth wind up earning him an extra eight weeks of detention.
* Allison Reynolds: (Ally Sheedy) The basket case of the group, in detention apparently because she had nothing better to do. She is the most socially isolated and claims to have no friends. She hides her face under her hair and the hood of her parka when frightened, and amuses herself by using her flakes of dandruff as snow on a picture she draws. For the first half of the film she is quiet, save for occasional squeaks of fear and a few random outbursts, but later on she opens up, particularly to Andrew. Allison's lunch consists of a sandwich made with Pixie Stix powder and Cap'n Crunch cereal. She disgusts the others while making and eating it. She is the least hesitant to talk openly about her home life and is not afraid of being different. At home, Allison is a victim of child neglect by her workaholic parents, and as a result carries a large bag with her to school every day in case she feels like running away. She claims to be in therapy, but because of her compulsive lying it is unknown if her claim is true.
* Brian Johnson: (Anthony Michael Hall) The group's brain, in detention for bringing a flare gun to school. He tries to keep the peace. At home, Brian is pressured by his parents to be a perfect academic. Every grade has to be an A, regardless of what the subject is. In an effort to get some relief, he takes shop on the mistaken assumption it will be easy. Brian, assigned to create a ceramic elephant lamp that will light when the trunk is pulled, receives an F when the lamp fails to light. In despair, he brings a gun to school with suicidal intent. It turns out to be a flare gun, which goes off in Brian's locker, destroying the locker and the elephant, and landing Brian in Saturday detention. Brian uses the standard 'girl from Canada' story to escape ridicule for being a virgin.
* Principal Richard "Dick" Vernon: (Paul Gleason) The aggravated principal who mainly dislikes Bender because of his smart mouth and threats. In the movie, he is seen reading the private school files, for which Carl the janitor blackmails him $50. Despite this, he bonds with Carl, confessing various fears about the current generation. "Someday these kids are gonna be running' the country. This is the thought that wakes me up every night."* Carl Reed: (John Kapelos) The school janitor who tells the kids he is the eyes and ears of the school. He hears all of their conversations. A brief shot at the beginning of the movie reveals he was once voted "Man of the Year" when he attended the high school years before. Although Bender mocks Carl a bit (as he does with everybody), they end the day on a friendly note, Bender mentioning that he'll see him next week. Carl seems, however, to be on friendly terms with Brian from the beginning.
Cultural impact:"The Breakfast Club" was ranked number 1 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies[3] and has had a tremendous impact on both the teen film genre and on popular culture since the 1980s.
In addition, its theme song titled "Don't You (Forget About Me)", performed by Simple Minds, reached #1 on the U.S. Hot 100 in 1985, where it stayed for one week, and has since then become a symbol of teen films. Yellowcard performed a cover of the song during a special tribute to the movie The Breakfast Club at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. It has also been repeatedly used in several teen films as well as television programs and in a 2008 back to school commercial for the clothing store JC Penney.
The Breakfast Club has been spoofed by Swedish pop group, A*Teens, in their video remake of Dancing Queen.
The Breakfast Club is referenced many times in television shows created by cartoonist Matt Groening. The phrase "eat my shorts" originates from the film and was later popularized by Bart Simpson of The Simpsons. The character "Bender" in Futurama is named after Judd Nelson's Breakfast Club character, John Bender.[4] An LP record of the film's soundtrack appears in the Futurama episode "The Luck of the Fryrish," and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is played over the same episode's end credits.
In the Family Guy episode "Let's Go to the Hop," direct and indirect references to the movie are made, i.e. when Peter walks into the cafeteria and sees "The Breakfast Club," which literally is a club of cereal box characters: Tony the Tiger, the Cocoa Puffs cuckoo, the Trix rabbit, Toucan Sam, and the Lucky Charms leprechaun. The final scene in the episode also features the song "Don't You (Forget About Me)."
The Degrassi: The Next Generation episode "Take On Me" follows the exact same premise with five similar characters from their respective cliques––jock/athlete (Jimmy), outcast/goth (Ellie), criminal/bad boy (Sean), princess/girly girl (Hazel), and nerd/brain (Toby).
In the episode of Disney's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, First Day of High School, while serving detention, Cody asks a fellow male detention inmate on why he was in detention. The male student tells him, He had nothing better to do, a similar reason for Allison Reynolds, gives for being in detention.
Nickelodeon's As Told by Ginger referenced extensively to the movie in the first half of the episode "Detention", Disney's Lizzie McGuire did the same in "She Said, He Said, She Said". The latter one also had references to Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
The promotional poster for the 2008 documentary American Teen has its cast members in the same poses as The Breakfast Club.[5] and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 promotional poster spoofed the "Breakfast Club" poster.
G4TV's X-Play had a retro themed episode where various G4 personalities played out roles from The Breakfast Club (Kevin Pereira as John Bender, etc.). However, the ending letter was revealed to be a suicide note as they all come to be involved in a Suicide pact.
The second episode of the third season of Psych (Murder?... Murder?... Anyone?... Bueller?) had multiple references to The Breakfast Club. Such as Shawn wearing a picture of Judd Nelson instead of his senior picture, him referring to Howie Tolkin and his wife as Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, and, later on, asking if Tolkin would "have time to tape Larry Lester's buttocks together?"
A JC Penney commercial aired on TV and in theaters beginning in June 2008 pays homage the film. Several scenes are reenacted at a similar library by the commercial's actors, to the tune of a cover of "Don't You" by New Found Glory The commercial shows a shot of the school with the name Shermer High School on the exterior of the building.
The Breakfast ClubDirected by John Hughes
Average customer review:
Product Description
The Breakfast Club, an iconic portrait of 1980s American high school life, is now available in an all-new digitally remastered Flashback Edition with never-before-seen bonus features! When Saturday detention started, they were simply the Jock, the Princess, the Brain, the Criminal and the Basket Case, but by that afternoon they had become closer than any of them could have imagined. Featuring an all-star ’80s cast including Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy, this warm-hearted coming-of-age comedy from writer/director John Hughes (Sixteen Candles, Weird Science) helped define an entire generation!
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #593 in DVD
- Released on: 2008-09-16
- Rating: R (Restricted)
- Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
- Formats: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Original language: English
- Number of discs: 1
- Running time: 97 minutes
Amazon.com essential video
John Hughes's popular 1985 teen drama finds a diverse group of high school students--a jock (Emilio Estevez), a metalhead (Judd Nelson), a weirdo (Ally Sheedy), a princess (Molly Ringwald), and a nerd (Anthony Michael Hall)--sharing a Saturday in detention at their high school for one minor infraction or another. Over the course of a day, they talk through the social barriers that ordinarily keep them apart, and new alliances are born, though not without a lot of pain first. Hughes (Sixteen Candles), who wrote and directed, is heavy on dialogue but he also thoughtfully refreshes the look of the film every few minutes with different settings and original viewpoints on action. The movie deals with such fundamentals as the human tendency toward bias and hurting the weak, and because the characters are caught somewhere between childhood and adulthood, it's easy to get emotionally involved in hope for their redemption. Preteen and teenage kids love this film, incidentally. The DVD release includes production notes, cast and crew bios, widescreen presentation, Dolby sound, closed captioning, optional French and Spanish soundtracks, and optional Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all. 
Possibly believed to be the most quintessential film, encompassing the 80's teen genre; The Breakfast Club is a classic piece of what John Hughes did for the 80's.(Which is everything right, really.)
A tale about five very different teens all from different clicks ( Andrew(Emilio Estevez) the jock, Brian(Anthony Michael Hall) the geek, Bender(Judd Nelson) the rebel, Claire(Molly Ringwald) the prep and Allison(Ally Sheedy) the outcast ) get stuck in the longest detention ever, with possibly the most idiotic educator in film to date.
Brilliant performances by all, with so many quotes I could fill a notebook. Who doesn't love telling an authority figure to 'EAT MY SHORTS'!
A classic theme song( Don't you forget about me, don't don't don't DON'T! ) with a winning soundtrack to follow.
I have no complaints, not my favorite John Hughes film(I prefer Sixteen Candles) but a classic none-the-less.
Even if you weren't born yet in the 80's!
Another stroll down 80's memory lane.
The Breakfast Club was the kind of movie I loved as a teenager.
I went back and watched it and absolutely hated it.
Whine, whine, whine.
Does anyone in this move do anything but whine?
Like any kids would act like this in detention.
Kids have their stupid clicks and I can't imagine a group of kids coming together for a group therapy session like they do in this movie.
It's 80's memories, yes.
So, if you've never seen it, go rent it.
I can't stand to watch a bunch of kids crying about how unfair their lives are.
You want unfair?
Go visit some of the victims of Hurricane Katrina or the Tsunami victims.
That's unfair, not kids crying because mommy and daddy won't buy them that new Vett.
Fun if you're a teen.
For adults, you'll wonder why the parents don't cuff em upside the head.
1 star for the edition five for the feature
Yeah, I know I'll receive flak for this, but I just don't care. This double-dipping has got to stop. FOR YEARS we've been asking for an s.e. of this film. And this isn't good enough. As the other reviewer says, this doesn't SEEM to have the "deleted scenes" released on TV (usually used to replace racier or more violent scenes on a TV broadcast, see the 4 disc edition of Superman (1977) as an example of re-cutting these scenes into a movie). Why waste your money when they'll just trot out another edition in a few years?
