The Breakfast Club

2006-07-25

The Breakfast Club is an easy-to-watch movie about five teenagers in detention. It’s definitely a teen flick, and most of the more serious friendship-building scenes are clearly aimed squarely at this age bracket. Having said that, the (partly) slapstick comedy appealed to me, although I think it’s probably necessary to be in a mood for something a bit silly.

The only poorly drawn character in this film is Mr. Vernon, the school principal, who reacts inconsistently and is hard to follow. The students all fit into clear stereotypes at the start, but unsurprisingly move out of these molds as the film progresses. I was expecting good things of Emilio Estevez, and indeed he delivered, but Judd Nelson provides a standout performance as probably the hardest character to play: the rebel, who, despite some softening, stays a rebel to the end.

As is usual in Hollywood, the film is let down by the use of some adults to play high-school ‘children’ (Judd Nelson was 25 during filming). The reality of the film suffers a little accordingly, although the quality of the acting goes some way towards negating this.

A good movie to watch when you’re looking for something short and not too intense - plus this gives you the dubious honour of being able to say you’ve seen **the **definitive 80s teen movie.