Cast:
John Hughes, Writer/Director
Keith Forsey, Music
Emilio Estevez as Andrew Clark
Paul Gleason as Richard Vernon
Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson
John Kapelos as Carl Reed
Judd Nelson as John Bender
Molly Ringwald as Claire Standish
Ally Sheedy as Allison Reynolds
Background:
The Breakfast Club was released on February 15, 1985.
On a $1 million budget, it would gross over $50 million at the worldwide box office for 1985 placing 16th for the year.
It was met with mostly positive critical reviews at the time for being a teen comedy not involving sex or violence.
The song "Don't You (Forget About Me)", performed by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, was released as a single on February 23, 1985, in the United States and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Breakfast Club has been called the quintessential 1980s film.
In 2008, Empire magazine ranked it at number 369 on their The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time list. It later ranked at number 38 on their 2014 list.
Similarly, The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list and Entertainment Weekly ranked the film number 1 on its list of the 50 Best High School Movies.
In 2016, The Breakfast Club was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
The Breakfast Club currently holds an 89% among critics on RT, a 66 score on Metacritic, and a 3.8/5 on Letterboxd.
Plot Summary: Five high school students from different cliques—brainy Brian, rebellious John, popular Claire, athletic Andrew, and outcast Allison—are forced to spend a Saturday in detention together. Initially clashing due to their differences, they gradually open up, revealing their personal struggles and realizing they have more in common than they thought.
Through laughter, tension, and heartfelt confessions, they form an unlikely bond that challenges the stereotypes that define them. By the end of the day, they leave detention changed, uncertain if their newfound understanding will survive Monday morning, but forever marked by their shared experience.
Did You Know:
The scene in which all characters sit in a circle on the floor in the library and tell stories about why they were in detention was not scripted. Writer and director John Hughes told them all to ad-lib.
Judd Nelson (John Bender) stayed in character off-camera, even bullying Molly Ringwald. John Hughes nearly fired him over this, but Paul Gleason (Richard Vernon) defended Nelson, saying that he was a good actor, and he was trying to get into character.
Bender's flinch when Vernon fakes a punch was genuine. Judd Nelson really thought Paul Gleason was going to hit him.
It was originally suggested that there would be several sequels to this movie, occurring every ten years, in which "The Breakfast Club" would get back together. This did not come to pass, due to the volatile relationship between John Hughes and Judd Nelson (John Bender). Hughes stated that he would never work with Nelson again. Also, it was unclear whether or not Hughes still held ill will against his oft-cast starlet, Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish). They had a falling out in the late eighties, after Ringwald decided to move on from the teen film genre to pursue more adult roles, thus severing her relationship with Hughes.
John Cusack auditioned several times for John Bender, even travelling between Chicago and Los Angeles before being cast. However, John Hughes went in a different direction, and dropped Cusack in favor of Judd Nelson, which was heavily influenced by the casting director.
Judd Nelson (John Bender) went undercover at a local high school outside Chicago near where the film was shooting, and convinced the teenagers that he was a legitimate student. After buying beer for them with his "fake ID" (he was twenty-four at the time), Nelson told them to drop him off at the hotel where the actors were staying. Years later, reflecting on his antics, Nelson said, "They would ask me why I was staying there, and I told them my dad was in jail. I'm staying at the Westin O'Hare while my dad's incarcerated."
Best Performance: Judd Nelson (Bender)
Best Secondary Performance: Paul Gleason (Vernon)/John Hughes (Writer/Director)
Most Charismatic Award: Molly Ringwald (Claire)/Don't You (Forget About Me) (song)
Best Scene:
Don't Mess with the Bull
No, Dad, What About You?
Returning from Bender's Locker
Monday Morning
Goodbyes (Don't You)
Favorite Scene: No, Dad, What About You?/Returning from Bender's Locker
Most Indelible Moment: Don't You (Forget About Me)
In Memorium:
Bruce French, 79, American actor (Passions, The Riches, Fletch)
Tony Roberts, 85, American actor (Annie Hall, Play It Again, Sam, Serpico)
Best Lines/Funniest Lines:
Andrew Clark: We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all.
John Bender:Â Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?
[closing narration] Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...
Andrew Clark: ...and an athlete...
Allison Reynolds: ...and a basket case...
Claire Standish: ...a princess...
John Bender: ...and a criminal.
Brian Johnson: Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.
Andrew Clark: Why do you have to insult everybody?
John Bender: I'm being honest, asshole. I would expect you to know the difference.
Andrew Clark: What do you need a fake I.D. for?
Brian Johnson: So I can vote.
Andrew Clark: Speak for yourself.
John Bender: Do you think I'd speak for you? I don't even know your language.
John Bender: [Imitating his Father] Stupid, worthless, no good, goddamn, freeloading son of a bitch. Retarded, big mouth, know-it-all, asshole, jerk.
[Imitating his Mother] John Bender: You forgot ugly, lazy and disrespectful.
[Father's voice] John Bender: Shut up bitch! Go fix me a turkey pot pie.
[His own voice] John Bender: No dad, what about you?
[Father's voice] John Bender: Fuck you.
[His own voice] John Bender: No dad, what about you?
[Father's voice] John Bender: Fuck you.
[His own voice] John Bender: Dad, what about you?
[Father's voice] John Bender: Fuck you!
Andrew Clark: I taped Larry Lester's buns together.
Andrew Clark: My God, are we gonna be like our parents?
The Stanley Rubric:
Legacy: 8.75
Impact/Significance: 5.5
Novelty: 7.75
Classic-ness: 5.25
Rewatchability: 5.75
Audience Score: 9.1 (90% Google, 92% RT)
Total: 42.1
Remaining Questions:
What happens Monday morning?
Wouldn't Bender be able to sue the school for false imprisonment?
What is the legacy of John Hughes?