The Breakfast Club
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The Breakfast Club
Written and Directed by: John Hughes
Starring:
Emilio Estevez
Paul Gleason
Anthony Michael Hall
Judd Nelson
Molly Ringwald
Ally Sheedy
Released February 15th, 1985
Budget: $1M ($2.5M 2021)
Box Office: $51.5M ($130M 2021) worldwide
Ratings: IMDb 7.8/10 Rotten Tomatoes 89%
Metacritic 66% Google Users 93%
John Hughes has had two movies selected to be preserved in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." First was "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" in 2014, and The Breakfast Club was selected in 2016.
First time you saw the movie?
Plot:
The opening credits ends with a quote from David Bowie: "...and these children that you spit on, as they try to change their worlds, are immune to your consultations. They're quite aware of what they're going through..."
A voice over complaining about Saturday school: Shermer High School, Saturday March 24th, 1984. Cars are dropping off the students. Claire complains she has to do saturday school, Brian promises it's the last time, Andrews father tells him he'll loose his scholarship , Allison is dropped off without word and Bender walks in. In the library, they all settle in. Principal Vernon addresses the students, telling them what he expects from their time. Bender starts harassing the other students... Telling Claire, 'you couldn't ignore me if you tried.' They discuss the difference between social clubs and academic clubs... Like math and physics club. They discuss the complexities of wrestling, and rolling on the ground with sweaty men... Sounds familiar. Bender sabotages the library door so that it'll close. Vernon aggressively questions them as to why the door is closed...and they all agree that it just closed. After trying to rig the door open, Bender and Vernon go back and forth, and he keeps adding saturdays. Claire pleads for him to stop. The group is shown wasting time, drawing, paper football, shaking dandruff out of their hair, Brian tucks a boner, and eventually they all fall asleep. Vernon wakes them up for a bathroom trip. Afterwords, Claire describes how her parents use her against each other. Bender continues to antagonize, but they eventually even share names. Bender takes particular interest in Claire, asking how far shes been with a guy. Andrew stops him, and it briefly turns physical and Bender threatens to kill him. A brief conversation with Carl the janitor, a whistle along, and it's lunch.
S:
-The car claire is dropped off in is John Hughes car
-The mom and sister with Brian are Anthony Michael Halls real mom and sister
-Anyone ever have saturday school/detention? Any good stories?
-Vernon giving Bender 2 months of saturday school... why would he want to be there that many saturdays? Though, he doesn't have a wedding band on.
Andrew and Allison go to get drinks, and she finally breaks her silence, saying she drinks vodka. Andrew complains then about being good and wrestling with sweaty dudes...Unlike Tucker. Bender continues to antagonize, eventually outing Brian as a virgin...Claire pulls out sushi for lunch, Andrew has an entire grocery bag full of food, Allison makes some weird, crunchy, sugar sandwich, and Bender goes through Brians lunch the ends with Bender doing an super sarcastic Leave it to Beaver, impression of life at Brians house. Andrew notices Brians reaction and asks about Benders home... Which then gets pretty real. Ending with Andrew questioning the authenticity of his actions, and then shown a cigar burn on his forearm. He storms off, and is reflective. Vernon goes to the lounge, and they all follow Bender to his locker, which no one can explain why... Which we soon find out is weed. As they head back, they are trying to avoid Vernon, and we get the awesome 80's musical montage. (Fire in the twilight) Ending up at a locked gate, stuffing his weed in Brians pants, Bender takes off making a bunch of noise, Vernon following, ending in the gym, giving everyone else time to get back. Vernon gives a very stark view of Benders future...they leave; but in a closet, Vernon threatens Bender, and provides Bender with some perspective, giving him a free shot, which he doesn't take, and he calls him a gutless turd. As Vernon takes a slam, Bender crawls through the ceiling and crashes back to the library, stating he forgot his pencil. As the others cover for Bender, he steals a look and nearly a face-full up Claires skirt. Taking his weed from Brian, the others follow him to the back of the library to smoke.
S:
-Judd Nelson played this character method and didn't break, even between scenes. John Hughes almost fired him bc of how he treated Molly Ringwald off camera; though she said she was aware and was ok with it.
-So Bender can say whatever he wants about anyone else, but then when its about his interpretation of his own home, that's too far? Should we feel bad for him? He's been a shit head the whole time.
-What do you think about Bender? Is his life like he says or what? What is he doing today?
-First time smoking weed?
Brian and Claire are obviously super stoned and being silly. Andrew comes out from hotboxing in a room, and aggressively dances around, ending with screaming and a glass breaking, with Allison watching intently. Carl catches Vernon going through the restricted files. Andrew and Brian chat, and Allison finally joins in, offering that she stole his wallet. Claire and Bender discuss not throwing things away. Allison dumps her purse on the couch, stating shes always "ready to jam" because her home life is unsatisfying. Andrew tries to connect with Allison, who he reads pretty well, and she opens up to him, about her family, asking, "What did they do to you...?" like its something that happens to everyone... Very stark. Vernon and Carl talk, and Carl pegs him precisely. They're sitting in a circle, they go back and forth sharing and asking questions. Allison says she's screwing her therapist, Claire is prodded into answering if shes a virgin.... which she is. This leads to a discussion about how they're bizarre, and Andrew tells why he's in Saturday school...Taping a kids 'buns' together. And he gets very emotional. It impacts them all very deeply. Brian shares how Andrews dads intensity is like his grades, and failing shop. They move on to hidden talents, and Claire puts on lipstick with her cleavage, which Bender mocks, and the others chastise him for going after her... and he shares the differences in their christmases... Smoke up Johnny! They lament, asking if they're going to be like their parents, and Allison states its unavoidable, that when you grow up, your heart dies. Brian asks if they'll still be friends on Monday, and Claire tells them the truth that they wont be friends... they go back and forth about how shitty that is, and Brian shares why hes in Saturday school... because he was going to kill himself with a flair gun. Which they all laugh at. Which then prompts Allison to share that she did nothing to be there, she had nothing better to do. Segue to 80's musical montage. (we are not alone)
S:
-Any of y'all ever consider running away?
-Would you say your bizarre? How so?
-Tell zapping the kid in 8th grade story
-Originally the dance montage was supposed to ONLY be Molly Ringwald, but she didn't want to do it alone, which then kind of spawned the 80's/Mtv dance montages.
Bender is crawling back through the ceiling, Claire convinces Brian that he should write the essay Vernon asked them to write. Claire then takes Allison for a make over. Claire goes into the closet with Bender, as Allison FINALLY gets Andys attention after watching him the WHOLE TIME. Claire kisses Bender, and he offers to be something her parents use against each other. Andy complements Allison, who she states Claire did it. They all walk out together, Andy and Allison kiss, Claire gives Bender one of her diamond earrings, which he made fun of her for earlier. They share a kiss, and she leaves. Bender puts the earring in, and a voice over is heard: (voice over), Bender is shown walking across a field, he throws a fist in the air, freeze frame, and credits roll.
S:
-Kissing in front of the parents... Is it just me that thinks thats weird? That shit is NOT happening with my daughter. She'll sneak around like God intended.
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