The Breakfast Club (1985) directed by John Hughes – A Film Review

In the nineteen eighties John Hughes created some of the most definitive films for the teenagers of that decade. Films like Sixteen Candles (1984), Weird Science (1985), Pretty in Pink (1986), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), and the subject of this film review The Breakfast Club (1986) helped to play out issues of young people and in the end helped to define their very opinions.

Yet I was not born to this generation. In fact I wasn’t born until nineteen ninety one so I never grew up relating to these films in the same way other generations may have done. To reveal more on this, it wasn’t until my twenties that I actually first saw any of these movies. So unlike many others, I don’t have any kind of nostalgic bias to this material. This also means that I don’t really share the same kind of cultural compass that many who viewed these films at the time of their releases would have.

The basic premise of the film involves five pupils who have for varying reasons been put into a special detention class on a Saturday as punishment for their behavior. Each of them fulfills a specific stereotype of teenagers within an American high school (or any social environment for that matter) of the time. One is a jock / tough guy, another is a prom queen / popular girl, another’s a nerd / conformist and there’s also a criminal / rebel and basket case or introvert.

It’s true that like each of them, when we first meet the pupils we view them in these same terms; through the same social stereotypes. Yet as the film progresses and they as characters get to know each other better a strong bond begins to form between them. Each of them has their own social problems and unique perspective based on the experiences they’ve had. They all discuss in this time the relation between their parents and how that has influenced who they are. It’s during this time that you really begin to notice how they all share a bond in the fact that each of their personalities are formed in someway as a form of submission or rejection of what their parents have taught them. And, the way they inherently react to others is to a degree a reflection on this.

In terms of the films presentation it is really well shot with the majority of the action taking place in one location. The cinematography itself is quite minimalistic in terms of camera movement or elaborate setups. In fact for most of the film the camera is static, which allows us to fully engage the subjects and actors being presented before us without being distracted.

There are many standout performances here, well, to be honest; the film is kind of filled with them. All of the young actors completely pull off their characters and there isn’t anything in sight that pulls you out of any of their performances. Also a keynote to be made here is that none of the characters come across as cheesy or clichéd in their presentation to the audience. Instead they come across as genuine people with mixed emotions and engaging backstories that have a real influence on who they are.

In many ways this film is completely unlike any other high school movie ever made. The film at times comes across like a group psychology session in which everyone is discussing his or her problems, and in many ways I think this is one of the reasons why it is so interesting. We begin to see the posturing that each of them does at the start of the movie be slowly chipped away over time, as we begin to see their true raw emotions.

There are no real detriments to the film. Its weakest aspect is that it has a few eighties songs play throughout which to a small extent ages the film. But overall the film feels as fresh today as it would have when it was released. It’s really quite unusual to see such strong writing in a teen drama. As a lot of them often try to sell themselves on a concept of wacky adventures or moving to a new school, where character development on any real endearing level is usually left by the way side. The premise of The Breakfast Club however, forces these kids to talk with one another when they are stuck in a classroom together on a Saturday. They are forced to engage with these other people who they don’t know and through this they learn a lot about each other and some of them learning more about themselves.

For many people this film would have changed how they look at the medium itself. The fact that you could have a whole film based around people just discussing their lives and issues is something that you don’t see that often in American cinema. Aiming for a young audience and not dumbing down the material but talking to them as adults was a smart decision. To many films are created in a way that is too simplistic for younger audiences and this stands as an example of how you can make a smart film for them and have it still be successful. The reason being that this film never tried to talk down to its audience, instead it attempted to genuinely talk to them. Which is something all in itself quite refreshing.