by Roz Romero

Created on: August 12, 2008

Few money making teen genre films of the 1980s had much to offer beyond the typical sex, drugs and rock and roll theme but, John Hughes' classic, "The Breakfast Club", starring certain members of the famous "brat pack", is truly the exception to that rule. The film sets the bar high for future film makers who dare to tread the dicey course of teenage entertainment. The brilliant simplicity of the film and honesty of the characters is what makes this film an 80's classic and delightfully appealing for young and old alike.

"The Breakfast Club" brings together five stereotypical Chicago high school students on a wintery Saturday morning to serve school-sanctioned detention. Present are the loadie ne'er do-well punk, played exquisitely by Judd Nelson; Molly Ringwald plays the high fashioned spoiled princess; Emelio Estevez stars as the somewhat reluctant jock; the misunderstood odd loner girl is portrayed by the versatile Ally Sheedy; and, Anthony Michael Hall plays the super smart over-achieving nerd. All of them are there to compensate for violating one rule or another and all are charged with writing some kind of essay which ultimately never gets done - except by the "smart" one. The only adult in the film is Principal Vernon, middle-aged and burned out, played convincingly by Paul Gleason.

While the students are there to serve detention for one reason or another, their crimes have little to do with the story other than to provide a backdrop and sneak peak into their psychologies. Through the course of their time together, the initially reluctant characters slowly reveal more and more truth about themselves and, in that process, each student has a mirror held up to their own reflection for their own self-discovery. They each come to discover something about each other, but what they discover about themselves is that they aren't that different. They come to appreciate that everyone wants the same things - love, acceptance, and respect. They discover their commonalities and from this understanding, honesty which each of them have worked hard to conceal, is revealed. Each tell a tale of what a day in their homes would look like, learning that while they come from different family histories, all share common things like hurt caused by abandonment in one form or another, confusion, disgust, disillusionment, and disappointment with their parents, and frustration over typical peer pressures. As they come to know and trust one another, they find their walls break down and they each become acutely aware of the stereotypical labels they had previously assigned to others and the labels others have assigned to them. In plain and sometimes brutal terms, they learn just how others perceive them.

A lot of psychological ground is covered in this film, but what is most impressionable about the fine script and pitch perfect acting, is that it is believable. No matter ones generation, any viewer can relate to each one of these characters and the molds they are unwittingly cast in.

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