The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Hughes
Produced by	John Hughes Ned Tanen
Written by	John Hughes
Starring	Emilio Estevez Molly Ringwald Judd Nelson Anthony Michael Hall Ally Sheedy and Paul Gleason
Music by	Keith Forsey
Cinematography	Thomas Del Ruth
Editing by	Dede Allen
Distributed by	Universal Studios
Release date(s)	February 15, 1985 (1985-02-15)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Gross revenue	$45,875,171
Music sample
"Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)"

The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen drama written and directed by John Hughes. The storyline follows five teenagers (each a member of a different high school clique) as they spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all deeper than their respective stereotypes. The film has become a cult classic, a defining film of the 1980s, and has had a tremendous influence on many coming of age films since then. It was shot entirely in sequence. Shooting began on March 28, 1984, and ended in May 1984.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast of characters 3 Background 3.1 Cast 3.2 Casting 3.3 Filming 3.4 Reception 4 Deleted scenes 5 Soundtrack 6 Tributes 7 Cultural effect 8 References 9 External links

Plot

The plot follows five students at fictional Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois as they report for Saturday detention on March 24, 1984. While not complete strangers, the five teenagers are each from a different clique or social group.

The five students, who seem to have nothing in common at first, come together at the high school library, where they are harangued and ordered not to speak or move from their seats by the antagonistic principal, Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason). They are to remain for a period of eight hours and fifty-four minutes (from 7:06 A.M. to 4 P.M., the only indication of time being on a clock that is 20 minutes fast). He assigns a 1,000 word essay (in which each student must write about who he or she thinks he or she is) and then leaves them mostly unsupervised, returning only occasionally to check on them. Bender, who has a particularly negative relationship with Mr. Vernon, disregards the rules and riles the other students; mocking Brian and Andrew, and sexually harassing Claire. Allison remains oddly quiet except for the occasional random outburst.

The students pass the hours in a variety of ways. Gradually they open up to each other and reveal their inner secrets (for example, Allison is a compulsive liar, Bender comes from an abusive household and Brian and Claire are ashamed of their virginity). They also discover that they all have strained relationships with their parents and are afraid of making the same mistakes as the adults around them. However, despite these developing friendships the students are afraid that once the detention is over, they will return to their very different cliques and never speak to each other again.

At the request and consensus of the students, Brian is asked to write the essay Mr. Vernon assigned earlier (the subject of which was to be a synopsis by each student detailing "who you think you are"), which challenges Mr. Vernon and his preconceived judgments about all of them. Brian does so, but instead of writing about the actual topic he writes a very motivating letter that is in essence, the main point of the story. He signs the essay as "The Breakfast Club" and leaves it at the table for Mr. Vernon to read when they leave. There are two versions of this letter, one read at the beginning and one at the end, which are slightly different; illustrating the change in the students' judgments of one another and their realization that they truly have things in common.

The beginning letter is as follows:

Brian Johnson (although that is unknown at this point): Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois. 60062.

Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong...and what we did was wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us... in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed.

The end letter is as follows:

Brian Johnson: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong...but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...

Andrew Clark: ...and an athlete...

Allison Reynolds: ...and a basket case...

Claire Standish: ...a princess...

John Bender: ...and a criminal...

Brian Johnson: Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.

Cast of characters

• Judd Nelson as John Bender
• Emilio Estevez as Andrew "Andy" Clark
• Molly Ringwald as Claire Standish
• Ally Sheedy as Allison Reynolds
• Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson
• Paul Gleason as Principal Richard "Dick" Vernon
• John Kapelos as Carl Reed

Background

Cast

Each of the film's young stars became part of the Brat Pack (whose other members include Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy and Demi Moore), a group of actors who found fame at the same time and were sometimes cast in films together. John Hughes appeared in an uncredited role as Brian's father. Of the entire cast, only Hall and Ringwald were actually high school age upon the film's release; Nelson was 25, while Sheedy and Estevez were both 22 years old.

Casting

Emilio Estevez was originally cast to play John Bender, but because Hughes couldn't find anyone to play Andrew Clark, Estevez agreed to take the role. Nicolas Cage was being considered for the role of John Bender. Bender was the last role to be cast, and it was between John Cusack and Judd Nelson. Hughes eventually cast Cusack to play John Bender, but decided to replace him with Nelson before shooting began because Cusack didn't look threatening enough for the role.^[1] Molly Ringwald also wanted to play Allison Reynolds, but Ally Sheedy had already been promised the part. Rick Moranis was originally cast as the janitor; he left due to creative differences and was replaced by John Kapelos.

Judd Nelson's performance was influenced by his method-style technique of staying in character off set. He was accused of bullying Molly Ringwald due to his insistence on remaining in character when the camera was not rolling. This behavior nearly forced Hughes to fire Nelson, but Nelson was defended by Paul Gleason, his on-screen nemesis, who stated that Nelson was just trying to stay in character and did not mean any wrong by it.^[2]

Ringwald and Hall dated briefly after filming ended.^[3]

Filming

Shooting began on 28 March 1984 and ended in May of that year.

Filming took place at Maine North High School in Des Plaines, Illinois, the same school used for some of the school-based scenes in John Hughes's Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which was released just a year after The Breakfast Club. Maine North High School was closed for two years before John Hughes stepped in and used it as a filming location.

Some of the posters on the walls during filming of The Breakfast Club were still there when Ferris Bueller was filmed. On the Ferris Bueller's Day Off DVD commentary (featured on the 2004 DVD version), John Hughes reveals that he shot the two films back to back to save time and money, and some outtakes of both films feature elements of the film crews working on the other film in each case. Hughes never disclosed, however, whether Ferris Bueller was intended to be a student at the same school as The Breakfast Club students a year later.

Reception

The film holds a 90% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 42 reviews, with an average score of 7.5/10. The critical consensus is "The Breakfast Club is a warm, insightful, and very funny look into the inner lives of teenagers".^[4] Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 62% based on 11 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "generally favorable reviews".^[5]

In 2008, the film was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.^[6] Similarly, The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list.^[7] The film ranked number 1 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.^[8][9]

Deleted scenes

John Hughes' first draft of the film was originally scripted out to be a 2-1/2 hour film. However, many of the scenes were cut out and the negatives destroyed. John Hughes stated that he had the only complete copy of The Breakfast Club, albeit in a VHS copy.^[2] Following his death in August 2009, the location of the VHS is unknown. This copy was shown by Hughes to a staff member of Premiere magazine for an article. Among the cut scenes from the movie (some filmed, some only written) are:^[2]

• The janitor Carl talks with Vernon about where the five kids will be in the future. According to Vernon, Bender will have killed himself, Claire will have had "two 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 Andy will marry a gorgeous airline stewardess who will become fat after having kids.
• In a dream, Allison imagines Andy 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, 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 is 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."
• In the scene where Bender is inspecting Brian's lunch, there is a note in the lunch from his mom and John reads it.
• The scene where Andy 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 two minutes and the girls three minutes. Claire catches Allison in a stall eating a bag of chips, repulsing her. Bender mocks Brian for sitting down to urinate instead of using a urinal.
• When Allison says, "I can write with my toes", she actually does so. This was filmed.
• Several staff members were cut out of the script before filming. Dr. Lange, a social studies teacher who dresses oddly, Andre a sociopathic Film Studies teacher, Brian a neurotic PE Teacher, Ed the mute cafeteria worker who shouldn't be at the school on a Saturday, 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.
• John and Claire's kissing scene in the closet was cut because Hughes felt that "screen kissing wears thin very quickly." Molly Ringwald described it as a "great kiss".^[10]

Soundtrack

The Breakfast Club
Soundtrack by various artists
Released	February 19, 1985
Genre	Rock, New Wave
Length	38:02
Label	A&M Records
Professional reviews
Allmusic link

1. "Don't You (Forget About Me)" – Simple Minds
2. "Waiting" – E.G. Daily
3. "Fire in the Twilight" – Wang Chung
4. "I'm the Dude" (instrumental) – Keith Forsey
5. "Heart Too Hot to Hold" – Jesse Johnson, Stephanie Spruill
6. "Dream Montage" (instrumental) – Keith Forsey
7. "We Are Not Alone" – Karla DeVito
8. "Reggae"(instrumental) – Keith Forsey
9. "Didn't I Tell You?" – Joyce Kennedy
10. "Love Theme" (instrumental) – Keith Forsey

Tributes

In 2005 MTV announced that the film would be rewarded with the Silver Bucket of Excellence Award in honor of its 20th anniversary at the MTV Movie Awards. To coincide with the event, MTV attempted to reunite the original cast. Sheedy, Ringwald and Hall appeared together on stage, with Kapelos in the audience; Gleason personally gave the award to his former castmates. Estevez could not attend the reunion because of other commitments, and Nelson appeared earlier in the show but left before the on-stage reunion for reasons unknown, prompting Hall to joke that the two were "in Africa with Dave Chappelle." Pop-punk band Yellowcard performed a version of the movie's anthem, "Don't You Forget About Me." This show was taped on May 28, 2005, and aired on June 9.

At the 82nd Academy Awards Sheedy, Hall, Ringwald and Nelson all appeared in a tribute to John Hughes, along with other actors who had worked with Hughes including Jon Cryer from Pretty in Pink, Matthew Broderick from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Uncle Buck.

Cultural effect

The Breakfast Club was ranked No. 1 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies,^[11] and has had a tremendous impact on both the teen film genre and on popular culture since the 1980s.

The character "Bender" in Futurama is named after Judd Nelson's Breakfast Club character, John Bender.^[12] An LP record of the film's soundtrack appears in the Futurama episode "The Luck of the Fryrish", and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is played over the same episode's end credits.

A JC Penney commercial aired on TV and in theaters beginning in June 2008 pays homage to the film. Several scenes are reenacted at a similar library by the commercial's actors, to the tune of a cover of "Don't You" by New Found Glory. The commercial shows a shot of the school with the name Shermer High School on the exterior of the building.^[13]

References

External links

• The Breakfast Club at the Internet Movie Database
• The Breakfast Club at Allmovie
• The Breakfast Club review at FastRewind.com
• The Breakfast Club DVD official Universal Studios website
• Entertainment Weekly commentary

John Hughes Director and writer Sixteen Candles (1984) • The Breakfast Club (1985) • Weird Science (1985) • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) • Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) • She's Having a Baby (1988) • Uncle Buck (1989) • Curly Sue (1991) Writer National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982) • Mr. Mom (1983) • National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) • Nate and Hayes (1983) • National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) • Pretty in Pink (1986) • Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) • The Great Outdoors (1988) • National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) • Home Alone (1990) • Career Opportunities (1991) • Dutch (1991) • Beethoven (1992) • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) • Dennis the Menace (1993) • Baby's Day Out (1994) • Miracle on 34th Street (1994) • 101 Dalmatians (1996) • Flubber (1997) • Home Alone 3 (1997) • Reach the Rock (1998) • Just Visiting (2001) • Maid in Manhattan (2002) • Drillbit Taylor (2008)