The Breakfast Club

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

Filmed in the hometown of director and writer John Hughes and released in 1985, this film was one of his 80’s teen comdey movies (along with Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and the classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). This was, of course, in Hughes’s heyday before he started cranking out such crap as Home Alone and Beethoven.

The Breakfast Club revolves around five students, who would not meet under other circumstances, trapped in detention for a Saturday. The characters are:

  • Richard Vernon, the teacher (or principal? the script says “teacher”). He’s a hard-ass no-nonsense type of guy. Played by Paul Gleason.
  • Andrew Clark, the jock. He’s a wrestler who got detention for a hazing incident. Played by Emilio Estevez.
  • Brian Johnson, the Neo-Maxi Zoomdweebie. He’s a brown-nosing nerd type of guy. Played by Anthony Michael Hall.
  • John Bender, the rebel. He never quite explains the specific incident that got him in detention that weekend, but he eludes to the fact that he’s a regular. Played by Judd Nelson.
  • Claire Standish, the prom queen. She cut class to go on a shopping spree. Played by Molly Ringwald.
  • Allison Reynolds, the weird one. I think she’s just there for the company. Played by Ally Sheedy.
  • Carl, the janitor. Yeah, he’s not all that important of a character, but he’s damn cool. Played by John Kapelos.

But hey… why do we need to spoil the movie for you? Go out and rent it!