Part of Teenage Wasteland and Music City Mondays
Director John Hughes’ magnum opus of teenangst dramadies THE BREAKFAST CLUB is the tale of five high school students from vastly different social cliques — Claire (the popular girl), Andrew (the athlete), Bender (the rebel), Brian (the nerd) and Allison (the outcast) — who are forced to spend detention together in the school library. At first, they clash due to their stereotypes and personal prejudices. However, as the day progresses, they begin to open up about their struggles, fears, and the pressures they face from society. As the five students grow increasingly vulnerable with one another they form an unexpected bond.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, THE BREAKFAST CLUB remains one the most beloved films about friendship, love, and sticking it to the man.
“I can't remember ever wanting to applaud at the end of a movie, but the only reason I didn't after THE BREAKFAST CLUB is that I was practically paralyzed with excitement. With this rousing new film... the Hollywood youth film finally comes of age.” —Patrick Taggart, Austin-American Statesman (Feb 15, 1985) “What makes THE BREAKFAST CLUB an involving, occasionally even brilliant film, is the tight ensemble acting of a first-rate cast. This is an actor's movie that is unencumbered by much action or even much change of scenery.” —Marylynn Uricchio, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Feb 15, 1985) “THE BREAKFAST CLUB is such a significant film, the fact that it's also a very good one is almost incidental. This movie is so ‘now’ it's the future, a compendium of modern slang and modern lives. I’ll even go out on a limb and predict we’ll be able to look back in a couple of years and find it started a new genre…of films that take teenagers seriously.” —Steve Warren, Bay Area Reporter (Feb 14, 1985) “Calling it radical would be a stretch, yet in 1985 THE BREAKFAST CLUB dressed differently from all the other teen comedies flying down the chutes. Director John Hughes wrote the script in a fortnight, constructing a simple, one-location talkie that brought a generation’s submerged angst to the surface…. Good and bad, it's still the definitive '80s teen movie.” —Simon Crook, Empire Magazine “This could have been an unmitigated disaster, but Hughes’ way with the material ensured it a special place in the heart of just about everyone who happened to be in high school while Ronald Reagan was President.” —Brad Laidman, Film Threat
