Saturday, “The Breakfast Club” will celebrate its 40th birthday. 

While the opening credits label this “A John Hughes Film,” I personally regard it as “The” John Hughes Film.

Hughes, who both wrote and directed, is widely-known for his many comedies of the ‘80s and ‘90s, including classics like “Home Alone” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” but “The Breakfast Club” is his magnum opus. 

A defining film of the 1980s and for my money, the defining teen movie of a generation. 

Set entirely at Shermer High School, the plot follows five teens who all embody a different stereotypical role in the high school social structure as they are forced to interact with one another during a Saturday detention. 

There’s the wrestling team jock (Emilio Estevez), the insecure ‘basketcase’ (Ally Sheedy), the nerd (Anthony Michael Hall), the prom queen (Molly Ringwald) and the brash, obnoxious tough guy (the fabulous Judd Nelson). 

This particular detention is special however, because it lasts all day, plenty of time for our characters to get to know each other a little better. 

The kids start off disinterested, at times even hostile, with each other as they all play up their ‘roles’ that they have settled into within the halls of Shermer. 

The gang are united against the tyrannical Mr. Vernon, played by Paul Gleason, who embodies every adult who does not quite understand our heroes and cannot be bothered to try. 

Mr. Vernon is almost comically horrible, entirely one note as a character but it is what he represents that serves this movie so well. 

The cast are terrified of losing their identities, however stereotypical they may be, because they believe that growing up is a trap and in doing so, they will lose any sense of individuality and become just like their parents. 

They are simultaneously restricted and comforted by the cliques they reside within, but this detention acts as a sort of limbo for the group, they are literally at school but not bound by the rigid social structure that rules it. 

As the kids slowly open up to one another, their walls come down and the masks of the characters they play begin to slip. 

A particular favorite example of this is seen with Nelson’s character John Bender. 

Upon arrival, Bender has on a scarf, a trench coat, a denim jacket, a flannel button up, a long-sleeve white tee, fingerless gloves, denim pants and heavy boots. 

As the film goes on and Bender opens up, layers of clothing are removed. His walls that he has built up to protect himself are lowered and he finds genuine connection for seemingly the first time in his life. 

Nelson is unquestionably the heart of this movie, with Bender’s aggression and action being the catalyst for any and all plot progression. 

The performances are wonderful from the entire cast, with Ally Sheedy portraying her introverted ‘basketcase’ to perfection, both confusing and charming the audience throughout. 

Ringwald plays the spoiled princess to perfection and her conversations about her parents giving her everything but their love adds some real emotional complexity to the character. 

Nelson delivers a true career defining performance that will far outlive him and with this being his sole appearance in a Hughe’s production, his impact is felt even more. 

This film is a lovely tale of teenage angst, capped off with one of the greatest ‘roll credits’ needle drop moments in cinema history, making it an all time classic that is both endlessly rewatchable and quotable in. 

You’ve had 40 years, but if you haven’t already, watch “The Breakfast Club,” and I am sure you won’t forget it. 

Categories: Arts & Entertainment