Story of movie The Breakfast Club :
The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy as teenagers from different high school cliques who spend a Saturday in detention with their strict assistant principal (Paul Gleason).
| The Breakfast Club | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Hughes |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | John Hughes |
| Starring |
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| Music by |
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| Cinematography | Thomas Del Ruth |
| Edited by | Dede Allen |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1 million |
| Box office | $51.5 million |
The film premiered in Los Angeles on February 7, 1985. Universal Pictures released it in cinemas in the United States on February 15, 1985. It received critical acclaim and earned $51.5 million on a $1 million budget. Critics consider it one of the greatest high school films of all time, as well as one of Hughes' most memorable and recognizable works. The media referred to the film's five main actors as members of a group called the "Brat Pack".
In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film was digitally remastered and was re-screened throughout 430 theaters in celebration of its 30th anniversary in 2015.
Screenplay
On a Saturday (March 24, 1984) five high school students report for all-day detention. Each comes from a different clique: pampered Claire Standish, state champion wrestler Andrew Clark, geek Brian Johnson, outcast Allison Reynolds, and delinquent John Bender. They gather in the school library, where assistant principal Richard Vernon instructs them not to speak, leave their seats, or sleep until they are released at 3:00 p.m. He assigns them a thousand-word essay, in which each must describe "who you think you are". He leaves, returning only occasionally to check on them.
John, who has an antagonistic relationship with Vernon, ignores the rules and riles up the other students, teasing Brian and Andrew and harassing Claire. Vernon gives John several weekends' worth of additional detention and eventually locks him in a storage closet, but he escapes and returns to the library.
The students pass the hours by talking, arguing, and, at one point, smoking marijuana. Gradually, they open up and reveal their secrets: Allison is a compulsive liar; Andrew cannot think for himself; John comes from an abusive household; Brian was contemplating suicide over a bad grade; and Claire is a virgin who experiences peer pressure. They discover they all have strained relationships with their parents: Allison's parents ignore her; Andrew's father pushes him to the limit, especially in wrestling; John's parents, especially his father, physically and verbally abuse him; Brian's overbearing parents pressure him to earn high grades; and Claire's parents use her to get back at each other during arguments. The students realize that, despite their differences, they face similar problems.
Claire gives Allison a makeover, which sparks romantic interest in Andrew. Claire decides to break her "pristine" virginal appearance by kissing John and giving him a hickey. Although they suspect their new relationships will end with their detention, their mutual experiences will change the way they look at their peers.
As the detention nears its end, the group requests that Brian complete the essay for everyone, and John returns to the storage closet to fool Vernon into thinking he has not left. Brian leaves the essay in the library for Vernon to read after they leave. As the students part ways, Allison and Andrew kiss, as do Claire and John. Allison rips Andrew's state champion patch from his jacket to keep, and Claire gives John one of her diamond earrings, which he puts on. Vernon reads the essay, in which Brian states that Vernon has already judged who they are using stereotypes; in fact, the students found that "each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal."
- Judd Nelson as John Bender
- Molly Ringwald as Claire Standish
- Emilio Estevez as Andy Clark
- Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson
- Ally Sheedy as Allison Reynolds
- Paul Gleason as Assistant Principal Vernon
- John Kapelos as Carl Reed
- Ron Dean as Mr. Clark
Casting
Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall both starred in Hughes' 1984 film Sixteen Candles. Towards the end of filming, Hughes asked them both to be in The Breakfast Club. Hall became the first to be cast, agreeing to the role of Brian Johnson. Ringwald was originally approached to play the character of Allison Reynolds, but she was "really upset" because she wanted to play Claire Standish. She eventually convinced the director and the studio to give her the part. The role of Allison ultimately went to Ally Sheedy.
Emilio Estevez originally auditioned for the role of John Bender. However, when Hughes was unable to find someone to play Andrew Clarke, Estevez was recast. Nicolas Cage was considered for the role of John Bender, which was the last role to be cast, though the role was narrowed down to John Cusack and Judd Nelson. Hughes eventually cast Cusack, but decided to replace him with Nelson before shooting began, because Cusack did not look threatening enough for the role. At one point, Hughes was disappointed at Nelson because he stayed in character by harassing Ringwald off-camera, and the other actors had to convince Hughes not to fire him.
Rick Moranis was originally cast as the janitor but left due to creative differences and was replaced by John Kapelos.
Filming
In 1999, Hughes said that his request to direct the film met with resistance and skepticism because he lacked filmmaking experience. Hughes ultimately convinced the film's investors that due to the modest $1 million budget and its single location shoot, he could greatly minimize their risk. Hughes originally thought that The Breakfast Club would be his directorial debut. Hughes opted for an insular, largely one room set and wrote it about high school students, who would be played by younger actors.
Principal photography began on March 28, 1984, and ended in May. Filming took place at Maine North High School in Des Plaines, Illinois, which had closed in 1981. The same setting was used for interior scenes of Hughes' 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which featured exterior shots from nearby Glenbrook North High School. The library at Maine North High School, considered too small for the film, prompted the crew to build the set in the school's gymnasium. The actors rehearsed with each other for three weeks and then shot the film in sequence. On the Ferris Bueller's Day Off DVD commentary (featured on the 2004 DVD version), Hughes revealed that he shot the two films concurrently to save time and money, and some outtakes of both films feature elements of the film crews working on the other film. The first print was 150 minutes in length.
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.
In 2015 the first draft of the film's script was discovered in a Maine South High School cabinet as district employees were moving offices to a new building.
Poster
The film's poster, featuring the five characters huddled together, was photographed by Annie Leibovitz toward the end of shooting. The shot of five actors gazing at the camera influenced the way teen films were marketed from that point on. The poster refers to the five "types" of the story using slightly different terms than those used in the film, and in a different sequence, stating "They were five total strangers with nothing in common, meeting for the first time. A brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse".
The main theme of the film is the constant struggle of the American teenager to be understood, by adults and by themselves. It explores the pressure put on teenagers to fit into their own realms of high school social constructs, as well as the lofty expectations of their parents, teachers, and other authority figures. On the surface, the students have little in common with each other. However, as the day rolls on, they eventually bond over a common disdain for the aforementioned issues of peer pressure and parental expectations. Stereotyping is another theme. Once the obvious stereotypes are broken down, the characters "empathize with each other's struggles, dismiss some of the inaccuracies of their first impressions, and discover that they are more similar than different".
The main adult character, Mr. Vernon, is not portrayed in a positive light. He consistently talks down to the students and flaunts his authority throughout the film. Bender is the only one who stands up to Vernon.
The film premiered in Los Angeles on February 7, 1985. Universal Pictures released the film in cinemas on February 15, 1985 in the United States.
Home media
In 2003, the film was released on DVD as part of the "High School Reunion Collection". In 2008, a "Flashback Edition" DVD was released with several special features, including an audio commentary with Anthony Michael Hall and Judd Nelson. A 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray was released in 2010, and the same disc was re-released with a DVD and digital copy in 2012 as part of Universal's 100th Anniversary series. On March 10, 2015, the 30th Anniversary Edition was released. This release was digitally remastered and restored from the original 35mm film negatives for better picture quality on DVD, Digital HD and Blu-ray.
On October 16, 2017, The Criterion Collection announced that the film was released in a special edition in January 2018.
Critical response
The film received high critical acclaim. Kathleen Carroll from the New York Daily News stated, "Hughes has a wonderful knack for communicating the feelings of teenagers, as well as an obvious rapport with his exceptional cast–who deserve top grades".
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 88% approval rating based on 60 reviews, with an approval rating of 7.7/10. 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".
Box office
In February 1985, the film debuted at #3 at the box office (behind blockbuster film Beverly Hills Cop and Witness starring Harrison Ford). Grossing $45,875,171 domestically and $51,525,171 worldwide, the film is a box office success, given its alleged $1 million budget.
Accolades
Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Paul Gleason and Ally Sheedy won a Silver Bucket of Excellence Award at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards in 2005.
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