The Breakfast Club (1985)

Ah yes, the quintessential teenage angst movie. Though I'm way past the target audience age for this picture, I can relate to some of those feelings I had when I was a high school student myself, many, many moons ago. Today I'm sure, the pressures on young students have to be considerably greater than the ones experienced by the Brat Packers appearing in this picture over three decades ago (as I write this), certainly a lot more than when I was a student going back a half century. But the primary issues still remain - how to fit in, how to find one's place in the world, how to appeal to the opposite sex, and on and on.The thing I found particularly compelling was teacher Vernon's (Paul Gleason) assignment. He asked the students to write an essay on 'who they THOUGHT they were'. That's distinctively different from asking them 'WHO they were'. There may be some subtlety there for the average person, but if one were to be honest and offer a careful reflection, 'WHO' one is and who one "THINKS' they are ought to be pretty close, unless some serious self denial exists. Of course that could be a definite possibility, as perhaps in the case of Allison (Ally Sheedy). Her Goth exterior masked a sensitive person aching to break out, with the group dynamic offering an opportunity to show her true self.The character I felt to be most a parody of a real person was Judd Nelson's 'Bender'. His dialog and actions were so over the top and inflammatory that under real life circumstances, someone like Andy Clark (Emilio Estevez) probably would have decked him early in the picture. The eventual camaraderie that developed among the five students felt more like a function of the screenplay than what actual high school students might have come up with on their own. The biggest problem I had with the story was the actual punishment - nine hours!!! detention on a Saturday seemed almost unconscionable. And for Vernon to commit himself to nine more weeks of it at the expense of Bender's behavior only said to this viewer that he seriously needed to get a life. But overall, the picture did convey a lot of the feelings one might have had back in the grueling days of high school with all it's attendant trials and tribulations. Having just experienced my own high school graduating class's fiftieth reunion (yikes!!!), I can fairly say there were some things I would have liked to do over again if given half a chance.

Nothing like 90 minutes to psycho analyze the demographics of white teenagers.

It was hard to stay awake watching this pile of rubbish. I never saw this on VHS, or Cinema, but the Cable company brought thme to me, I think "I give it a shot, it´s a classic". BIG MISTAKE. There is no plot, just the story of five kids in detention doing monkey business. The only highlits is the drug part, the marihuana situation. All the rest is a flat story, with stupid dialogues to fill time. I wil never let my children watch this movie in the future because is a huge waste of time.

Teen movies usually feature stereotypical, one-dimensional characters. This film gives color to these stereotypes and explore the depths of their personalities.The jock, the outcast, the nerd, the popular girl, and the criminal report for detention on a Saturday. On normal school days, they never talk to each other because of their differences. However, during detention, they find out that they are not so different from each other after all.The cast is amazing. Everyone portrayed their characters perfectly. Judd Nelson stood out as John Bender. I can't imagine the movie without his character. He gave life to the whole film. I got mixed emotions while I was watching this. I felt happy, sad, angry. It can also be heart-wrenching, particularly the scene where Bender makes his family impression. It is just so sad that in reality, some people have lives like him.The ending is good. What will happen on Monday? Will they act the same like they did before detention, ignoring each other? Or will they accept their true selves and continue their newfound friendships?This is an iconic movie. Everyone will still watch it after, say, a hundred years because it's just so amazing.