The Breakfast Club (1985)

Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought

The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes and starring Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy.

Beyond being in the same class at Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois, Claire Standish, Andrew Clark, John Bender, Brian Johnson and Allison Reynolds have little in common, and with the exception of Claire and Andrew, do not associate with each other in school. In the simplest and in their own terms, Claire is a princess, Andrew an athlete, John a criminal, Brian a brain, and Allison a basket case. But one other thing they do have in common is a nine hour detention in the school library together on Saturday, March 24, 1984, under the direction of Mr. Vernon, supervising from his office across the hall. Each is required to write a minimum one thousand word essay during that time about who they think they are.

They only met once, but it changed their lives forever.

The fact is, every teen character in this movie can be related to someone we knew in high-school. As a child of the 80's, I can honestly say that this is a representative cross-section of every high school in North America. The geek, the jock, the outcast, the rich pretty-girl snob, and the future criminal. They all exist, to some degree or another, in the classrooms of every high school on the continent.

If you really want to understand this film, think back to your own high school days. Think about your last year there. Dig out your old diary or book of angstful poems and reacquaint yourself with who you were then, when you felt things more deeply. "The Breakfast Club" does not exist not for high school kids, as some suggest. Why would they need it? They live there. It exists for all of us who have already been through there, who feel that they are above it now. It exists so that we can remember what it was like and better understand ourselves, and the next generation. Because you can't dismiss something you understand.

Judd Nelson gives a convincing performance of 'Bender' the criminal. He managed to sway from angry to emotional - making you feel for him when he is describing what things are like at 'his house'. He seemed to have a lot of great lines including the Manilow comment! The emotion in this film is immense considering it is a teenage film - and touches on 5 lost characters who seem to be searching for some type of approval or acceptance. (Just like our-selves) Ringwald shows just how versatile she is, and very different from Pretty in Pink.

"The Breakfast Club" presents no-doubt stereotypical characters, and every member represents countless real-life examples. But what makes it so enjoyable is that applies a variety of themes to its context: prejudice/discrimination, acceptance/tolerance, diversity, class/status differences, family matters, group dynamics, etc. It also encourages us to look at others and ourselves beyond surface-level appearances. Finally, "The Breakfast Club" has great 1980s pop culture and societal integrations, from the soundtrack with Simple Minds "Don't You (Forget about Me), to wealthy, surburban American life (haves and have nots), and superficial values of the "me" decade. It reminds us that there truly is diversity in all of us. We are different, but we are all "the same" in one way or another.

I rock

An important character to consider that is often overlooked is the assistant principal, Richard Vernon. Throughout the film he is portrayed as a villain of sorts, out to get the group of students being punished that particular Saturday. Completely unable to relate to his students or any of their situations, he only sees what is on the surface. It is pointed out by the janitor later on in the plot that while Vernon assumes the students are the problem in his lack of understanding the new generation, he never bothered to look closer and realize it was he who had changed. This plays a major role in the overall theme of the movie, which is the inability to see past the surface of a problem or character and judge solely by a look.

I felt that this was a personal film for Hughes and that he really cared for these characters. He achieved in crafting something that is so deep and at the same time entertaining which allows for one to revisit this film time and time again. What make Hughes so clever is creating young characters in his films that do not feel like they have been recycled from his other work. His most personal moment of this film, I assume, is the scene where they all sit down together and share their personal feelings and views. It really felt like Hughes has been in the situation before and just recreated it for this film.

This is probably the King of teem films. Although if I was in the movie with Bender I'd have whipped his ass across the library. 

Women can't hold their smoke

Trivia:

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. John Hughes told them all to ad-lib.

Judd Nelson stayed in character off-camera, even bullying Molly Ringwald. John Hughes nearly fired him over this, but, ironically, Paul Gleason defended Nelson, saying that he was a good actor and he was trying to get into character.

It was originally suggested that there would be several sequels to The Breakfast Club (1985), 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 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. 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 Hughes wrote the screenplay to this movie in just two days (4 and 5 July 1982).

Shot entirely in sequence.

At the very closing part of the film where Bender raises his fist in defiance, that was actually ad libbed. He was supposed to just walk into the sunset, so to speak, and John Hughes asked him to play around with a few actions. When he was done and they were finishing up, Judd Nelson threw his fist up without running it by anyone. Everyone loved it, and it has become an iconic symbol of the 1980's.

The dandruff that Allison shakes onto her penciled drawing for snow was achieved by sprinkling Parmesan cheese.

John Hughes later said that his biggest regret about this film was using the breaking glass effect during the marijuana scene.

Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall dated for a while after filming this movie.

The ages of everyone in the principle cast at the time of filming are: Judd Nelson (25), Molly Ringwald (16) (her 17th birthday was only 3 days after the film's release), Emilio Estevez (23), Anthony Michael Hall (16) and Ally Sheedy (23).

Judd Nelson's outfit in the movie was the same exact outfit when he auditioned for the role John Bender.

The David Bowie quote at the beginning of the movie is pulled from his song 'Changes'. It can be found on the 1971 album, 'Hunky Dory'. Ally Sheedy suggested the quote to John Hughes, who liked it and thus included it in the opening.

Anthony Michael Hall's mother Mercedes Hall and younger sister Mary Christian play his character Brian's mother and sister in the movie.

Molly Ringwald was originally asked to play Allison but wanted to play Claire. She eventually convinced John Hughes and the studio and was given the part.

Bender's flinch when Vernon fakes a punch was genuine. Judd Nelson really thought Paul Gleason was going to hit him.

Judd Nelson went undercover at a local high school outside Chicago near where the film was shooting and convinced the teenagers there that he was a legitimate student. After buying beer for them with his "fake ID" (he was 24 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."

John Kapelos jokingly warned the young actors to not overdo their intensity, laughingly noting that Martin Sheen once suffered a serious heart attack while filming Apocalypse Now (1979). Emilio Estevez was enraged by the remark, and Kapelos was then stunned to learn that Martin was Estevez's father. While Estevez accepted Kapelos' apology and filming was unaffected, Kapelos said years later he still felt terrible about what he said, even though he hadn't had any idea about the connection between Sheen and Estevez and had offended Estevez completely inadvertently. When Kapelos guest-starred on The West Wing (1999) in 1999, he told Martin Sheen this story. Sheen thought it was very funny, which provided Kapelos a small amount of relief from the chagrin he had felt about the incident since it happened.

John Hughes originally wanted "The Breakfast Club" to be a 2-1/2 hour movie. However, many of the scenes were cut out and the negatives destroyed. John Hughes said in Première that he had the only complete copy of The Breakfast Club on film. Among the cut scenes from the movie (some filmed, some only written) are: -Carl predicts where the five kids will be in 30 years. Bender will have killed himself, Claire will have had "2 boob jobs and a face lift," Brian will have become very successful but die of a heart attack due to the stress of the high paying job. Allison will be a great poet but no one will care, and Andrew will marry a gorgeous airline stewardess who will become fat after having kids. -In a dream sequence, Allison imagines Andrew as a gluttonous Viking, Bender as a prisoner, Claire as a bride, Brian as an astronaut, and herself as a vampire. In an unfilmed alternative to this dream sequence, all five kids imagine random things, including cars, naked women, Godzilla, beer, and fighter planes, and these things end up filling the room until Vernon interrupts. -John Bender was not going to walk to school in the original script. He was going to be driven by his dad in a rusty tow truck, and have a brief fight with him before his dad drives off. Bender also tossed a bagged lunch, his father saying "You are a waste of lunch meat!" -After Bender demonstrates "Life at Big Bri's house" Brian stops Bender and corrects him with a much more pessimistic version of the skit. Claire then proceeds to act out her life before asking Bender to demonstrate his version. Bender's routine changes as well here. After Bender mimics his mom, he stops, commenting that "then they make me work to pay off the dentist for the teeth HE busts." -The scene where Andrew and Allison are walking to get the sodas is extended to a point where Allison pulls out a pack of cigarettes and smokes one. -After getting the sodas, Bender shakes his can violently and places it among the five to see who gets the rigged one. Allison ends up getting it, and when she opens the can, all the soda squirts directly into her mouth. -After Vernon asks who has to use the lavatory, the five go to the bathroom. Vernon gives the boys 2 minutes and the girls 3 minutes. Claire catches Allison in a stall eating a bag of chips, repulsing her. Bender mocks Brian for sitting down to pee instead of using a urinal. -When the group is sitting in the circle and Allison mentions that she can write (and do other things) with her toes, she was going to follow up with an actual demonstration. -Several staff members were cut out of the script before filming. Dr. Lange, a social studies teacher who dresses oddly, and Robin, a gym teacher. Robin helps Vernon on a few workout machines until Vernon injures his back, and she eventually visits the students while they are in their circle in the library. Robin initially replaced many of Carl's scenes and Carl was originally set to be a minor character with only two scenes.

During a cast reunion in honor of the film's 25th anniversary, Ally Sheedy revealed that a Director's Cut existed but Hughes' widow did not disclose any details concerning its whereabouts.

The joke that Bender tells but never finishes (while crawling through the ceiling) actually has no punchline. According to Judd Nelson, he ad-libbed the line. Originally, he was supposed to tell a joke that would end when he came back into the library and said, "Forgot my pencil", but no one could come up with a joke for that punchline.

Ranked at #1 for Entertaiment Weekly's 50 Best High School Movies (2006).

The Coke cans that the teenagers drink from have the symbol from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles on them.

The theme song, "Don't You (Forget About Me)", was written for the film by Keith Forsey. It was a number one hit for Simple Minds, and both Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry turned down offers to record it first (although in 2001, Billy Idol recorded Don't You (Forget About Me) as a bonus track for his Greatest Hits album). The song was also turned down by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders who then suggested they offer it to the band fronted by her husband at the time, Simple Minds.

Ally Sheedy had first auditioned for the part of Samantha Baker in Sixteen Candles(1984), which went to Molly Ringwald. When Sheedy auditioned, she had two black eyes from a set building accident. The black eyes gave her a dark, gothic image which stayed with John Hughes. When it was time to cast the part of Allison, Hughes remembered and called Sheedy.

The film's title comes from the nickname invented by students and staff for detention at New Trier High School, the school attended by the son of one of John Hughes' friends. Thus, those who were sent to detention were designated members of "The Breakfast Club". "The Breakfast Club" at that school probably took its name in turn from the title of American radio's longest running network entertainment show, broadcast from Chicago, 1933 to 1968.

In reality, Molly Ringwald could not do the lipstick trick. They had to use different camera angles to make it appear that she could.

Ally Sheedy nicknamed Anthony Michael Hall "Milk & Cookies" because she thought he was sweet. Hall never liked the nickname.

Rick Moranis was originally cast as the janitor; he grew a thick beard and decided to play the character with a Russian accent. Writer-director John Hughes planned to let Moranis reinterpret the character, but producer Ned Tanen so vehemently opposed Moranis's comical creative liberties that he had actor replaced by John Kapelos.

When Bender is distracting Vernon while the others make their way back to the library, part of the song he sings is a few lines from "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors. The other part he sings while running down the hallway are lines from a US Military cadence: "I wanna be an Airborne Ranger"

When high on marijuana, Brian says, "Chicks cannot hold their smoke, that's what it is" which is from a Richard Pryor stand up routine.

John Hughes was so impressed by Molly Ringwald's performance that he had her mom come in and watch the dailies.

The cast and crew often played basketball in the gym between set ups.

Other proposed titles were "The Lunch Bunch" and "Library Revolution".

The BMW driven by Claire's father, in actuality, belonged to John Hughes.

Judd Nelson went to a laundromat in character. The looks he was giving to women made someone call the cops.

Jim Carrey auditioned for the role of John Bender

The Chicago Public Library donated over 10,000 books to be used in the movie.

You can't stop love

John Hughes originally wrote Andy as a football player but decided teen movies already had too many of those.

Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy both played sisters in Betsy's Wedding (1990), five years after this film.

In the beginning of the movie you see different shots of the school hallways and classrooms, you can see what the flare gun did to Brian's locker. Also there is a picture of a former Shermer High School student "Man of the Year". The guy in the picture is the janitor Carl Reed.

Bender continuously provokes Vernon into giving him extra Saturday detentions early on in the film. It is later implied during lunch by the burn mark on his forearm that he may have done that intentionally because he'd rather be alone with Vernon at school on a Saturday instead of being stuck at home with his constantly bickering parents, especially his violent and abusive father. It's also implied during the scene where Vernon escorts him to the closet and proceeds to rip into him that he only acts the way he does because he'd rather have people think he's a tough troublemaking delinquent type instead of a troubled and abused victim. Overall, it shows that he has more tolerance (and possibly more respect) to deal with Vernon than his parents.

The theatrical trailer shows brief footage that was ultimately never used. One shot shows Allison sitting by herself in a small room (presumably while the rest of the kids are getting high). Another brief clip shows Allison (post makeover) exclaiming to Andrew that she doesn't wanna be alone anymore, to which he responds that she doesn't have to be.

Five strangers with nothing in common, except each other.