FILM REVIEW – THE BREAKFAST CLUB

John Hugh’s intelligent 1985 coming of age student comedy drama is undoubtedly the best of its kind, with Pinteresque drama blended with great comedy and a high charge of anarchy towards the US education system

Five students from across the social class spectrum are ordered to take a Saturday detention, and gradually uncover truths about each other and themselves that change their personalities forever.

They are deliberately introduced as stereotypes, the brainy geek, (Anthony Michael Hall) the athlete (Emilio Estevez) the prom queen princess, (Moll Ringwald) the moody Goth girl, (Ally Sheedy) and the criminal. (Judd Nelson) That is how the supervising Principle, (Paul Gleason) sees them.

The Principal clearly despises them, and resents having to supervise them during their detention. He leaves them alone with instructions not to talk or move but of course, they do move around and chat freely when he retires to his office, only coming out to shout at them when they audibly misbehave.

Most of the group seem afraid of him and willing to behave though the Criminal is more openly defiant and rebellious, managing to break a door and anger the Principal enough to drive the man to pull him aside and threaten him with violence. He also presses the pretentious prom queen for answers on her sexuality which she avoids.

Aside from a brief sighting of some of the student’s parents at the opening and closing of the film, the only other character is The Janitor, (John Kapelos) the only one who seems to understand everyone from the outset. When the students bait him for easy humour he responds by casually pointing out how much he can learn just from what he sees when tidying through their things in the locker rooms.

Later, when catching the Principle rummaging through confidential files on the students he not only blackmails him over it but also shatters his conception that these kids will look after him one day when they grow up to run the country. The Principle isn’t a bad man, just a figure out of touch with the youth he educates, completely failing to see them in three dimensions and he seems to learn less as they open up and learn more from one another.

When the Principle goes out the students roam through the corridors and the gym, and they are surprised when The Criminal, already in extra trouble, protects them when they risk getting caught going out of the detention classroom without permission. It is when the students join him in taking Marijuana that they really open up on one another though, and not always pleasantly. The Criminal is abused by his brutal indifferent parents, and sees the detentions as a way to get away from home. He resents the spoilt wealth rich kid tome of the prom princess wither diamond earrings. He is lucky to get a packet of cigarettes for Christmas.

The Prom Princess admits to using people for favours and to being a virgin. The geek had smuggled a flare gun to school, not to cause mischief but with suicide in mind. The Goth girl admits she has no reason to be in detention – she came because she has no life at all.

As the students open up to one another and become friends, and in a few cases, lovers, the Brain writes their defining essay, reusing their stereotypical labels to refer to each of them defiantly, with pride – and signs it off with the film’s title – powerful, intelligent and funny – an astonishing character study about identity and values.

LINKS

THE BREAKFAST CLUB ON WIKIPEDIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breakfast_Club

THE BREAKFAST CLUB ON THE INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breakfast_Club

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