The Breakfast Club

Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently — and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.
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Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

  • Andrew Clark: Emilio Estevez
  • Richard Vernon: Paul Gleason
  • Brian Johnson: Anthony Michael Hall
  • Carl: John Kapelos
  • John Bender: Judd Nelson
  • Claire Standish: Molly Ringwald
  • Allison Reynolds: Ally Sheedy
  • Allison’s Father: Perry Crawford
  • Brian’s Sister: Mary Christian
  • Andy’s Father: Ron Dean
  • Claire’s Father: Tim Gamble
  • Allison’s Mom: Fran Gargano
  • Brian’s Mom: Mercedes Hall

Film Crew:

  • Casting Director: Jackie Burch
  • Director of Photography: Thomas Del Ruth
  • Editor: Dede Allen
  • Costume Design: Marilyn Vance
  • Sound Editor: Richard C. Franklin
  • Supervising Sound Editor: Charles L. Campbell
  • Writer: John Hughes
  • Production Supervisor: Richard Hashimoto
  • Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Robert L. Hoyt
  • Producer: Ned Tanen
  • Music Supervisor: Keith Forsey
  • Production Design: John W. Corso
  • Set Decoration: Jennifer Polito
  • Additional Music Supervisor: Gary Chang
  • Co-Producer: Michelle Manning
  • Camera Operator: Henry M. Lebo
  • Assistant Editor: Scott K. Wallace
  • Color Timer: Aubrey Head
  • Second Assistant Director: James Giovannetti Jr.
  • Theme Song Performance: Jim Kerr
  • Executive Producer: Gil Friesen
  • Executive Producer: Andrew Meyer
  • Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Daniel J. Leahy
  • Lead Painter: Paul Stanwyck
  • ADR Editor: Nicholas Korda
  • Sound Re-Recording Mixer: John J. Stephens
  • Assistant Sound Editor: Chuck Neely
  • Property Master: Jack M. Marino
  • Sound Mixer: James R. Alexander
  • First Assistant Director: Robert P. Cohen
  • Music Editor: Ted Whitfield
  • Electrician: Kyle T. MacDowell
  • Boom Operator: Greg Agalsoff
  • Negative Cutter: Donah Bassett
  • Assistant Editor: Nancy Frazen
  • Set Medic: Ross L. Kulma
  • Script Supervisor: Bob Forrest
  • Key Grip: Ben Beaird
  • Sound Editor: Jerry Stanford
  • Hairstylist: Linle White
  • Carpenter: Marc Fambro
  • Unit Production Manager: John C. Chulay
  • Sound Editor: Larry Carow
  • Makeup Artist: Robyn Goldman
  • Gaffer: Danny Buck
  • Associate Editor: James W. Miller
  • Makeup Artist: Ron Walters
  • Assistant Editor: John E. Therieau
  • Choreographer: Dorain Grusman
  • Production Coordinator: Sly Lovegren
  • Unit Publicist: Fredell Pogodin
  • Production Secretary: Susan Vanderbeek

Movie Reviews:

  • SierraKiloBravo: Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/tCnm1BN1iAs

    The brain, the athlete, the princess, the basket case, and the criminal – yes we’re talking about _The Breakfast Club_. It’s been dubbed as a seminal film of the 1980s and takes a place as an intergenerational classic.

    _They were five students with nothing in common, faced with spending a Saturday detention together in their high school library. At 7.00am they had nothing to say, but by 4.00pm they had bared their souls to each other and become The Breakfast Club._

    Directed by John Hughes and starring Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, and Ally Sheedy it rightly deserves that spot as a revered movie. It’s very much a comedy-drama and is surprisingly deep in parts, like the scene toward the end where they are all explaining what they did to get the detention. The acting is brilliant, and even though there is a very small cast, its basically the five members of The Breakfast Club and the Vice Principal, they hold your attention because they are so good.

    What I particularly liked was how they took the standard college stereotypes and then slowly deconstructed them over the course of the movie, and showed that they actually all had a lot in common. They all had their loves and hates, their sensitivities, and the burden of expectation from their parents, the school, and society as a whole.

    It’s funny, it’s sad, and by the time it concludes, it’s quite uplifting, and if it’s been a while since you saw it, it might be time to load it up for another look. If you’ve never seen it, then I suggest you check it out for a great time capsule of a movie that has themes that still resonate today.

  • Wuchak: _**Forced, artificial dialogs with eye-rolling character arcs**_

    Released in 1985 and written & directed by John Hughes, “The Breakfast Club” is a teen dramedy about five high school students from five different sub-cultures during an all-day detention over the weekend at their suburban Chicago school. Molly Ringwald plays the popular girl, Emilio Estevez the jock, Anthony Michael Hall the Brainiac nerd, Judd Nelson the dope-smoking rebel and Ally Sheedy the neurotic misfit. Paul Gleason and John Kapelos are on hand as the host principal and janitor respectively

    This movie has a big reputation as an 80’s teen flick, but I was wholly disappointed. Most of the discussions between the five students from different cliques come across contrived and unconvincing. Some of the dialog is actually cringe-inducing.

    The hoodlum could’ve worked as a character, like the Fonz or Vinnie Barbarino, but he’s such an annoying, loud-mouthed jerk that he loses all sympathy, particularly when he verbally rapes the redhead on multiple occasions for no ostensible reason. *** SPOILER ALERT*** The fact that the two end up together at the end adds insult to injury. ***END SPOILER*** Not to mention two others that unrealistically couple up.

    It’s strange that “The Breakfast Club” is billed as a comedy because there’s very little that’s funny, although it’s occasionally entertaining, like some of the music sequences. Unfortunately, Hughes wasn’t into the heavier side of rock and so the soundtrack consists solely of bland 80’s new wave bands, like his other 80’s teen flicks (e.g. “Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”). Don’t get me wrong, there are a couple of quality songs, like “We Are Not Alone” by Karla DeVito, but where are the heavier popular bands of 1984, like Van Halen, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Ratt, Dokken, Queensryche, Def Leppard, AC/DC or Motley Crue? Is it asking too much to have ONE song that actually rocks?

    But the music is the least of the movie’s problems (and isn’t really a problem at all, except that there aren’t any heavy tracks). The actors are fine, but Hughes’ dialog is unconvincing. As such, you don’t buy the characters. The script needed a serious rewrite.

    The movie runs 97 minutes and was shot in the suburbs north of Chicago.

    GRADE: C-

One thought on “The Breakfast Club

  1. Despite its obvious faults, The Breakfast Club is still a favorite for some special scenes in the group as they finally see each other and themselves in a spiritually better light. The flare gun bit to make them all finally burst out in laughter is still particularly effective, even if not quite realistic. Thank you for your review.

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