Movie Flashback: The Breakfast Club

Possibly one of the greatest teen movies of all-time!

Another classic from Writer/Director John Hughes.

The characters in The Breakfast Club were so well written that if you remember back to your own days in High School, YOU were either one of the characters in the film, or you knew two or three friends that were exactly like the characters portrayed in the film. A Jock, A Beauty, A Brain, A Rebel, and A Recluse. I would bet that 99% of us fit into one of those categories in High School. Whereas other teen movies, including other John Hughes films, have placed teens into situations that just don’t happen in “the real world”, The Breakfast Club was different in that the entire film placed the students into entirely accurate and believable situations with dialogue that fit the kids of the 1980′s to a “t”. Even the Adult Administrator assigned to babysit the students was an accurate portrayal in that EVERY High School in our Country has an Obnoxious, Arrogant, Idiot-Jerk Principal, Vice-Principal, or Teacher that absolutely every kid in the school disrespects and hates.

The Breakfast Club was released in 1985.

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…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 Movie Starred:

Molly Ringwald – The Beauty
Anthony Michael Hall – The Brain
Judd Nelson – The Rebel
Ally Sheedy – The Recluse
Emilio Estevez – The Jock
Paul Gleason – The Principal/Babysitter

The Breakfast Club ranked #1 on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the 50 Best High School Movies of All-Time.

Only Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall were of actual High School age during the filming of the movie. Judd Nelson was already 25yrs old and Ally Sheedy and Emilio Estevez were each 22yrs old.

Nicolas Cage or John Cusack were the original choices to play Judd Nelson’s character, John Bender.

The High School used for filming is the same school used in the film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” which was shot the following year.

After The Breakfast Club:

Judd Nelson has continued to do Movies and Television, appearing in films such as St. Elmo’s Fire, New Jack City, Fandango, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and others.

Molly Ringwald went on to films such as Pretty in Pink, The Pick-Up Artist, Betsy’s Wedding, For Keeps, and others and is currently starring in the ABC Family series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”.

Ally Sheedy went on to films such as Short Circuit, Maid to Order, Short Circuit 2, St. Elmo’s Fire, and others. She has recently guested on Television series such as CSI and Psych.

Emilio Estevez went on to appear in films such as Young Guns, The Mighty Ducks, St. Elmo’s Fire, Stakeout, Men at Work, and others. In 2006, he wrote and directed the Motion Picture “Bobby” about the killing of Robert Kennedy.

Anthony Michael Hall went on to films such as Weird Science, Edward Scissorhands, Out of Bounds, Johnny Be Good, and others. From 2002-2007 he starred in the series “The Dead Zone”.

Each one of us is a brain…
…and an athlete…
…and a basket case…
…a princess…
…and a criminal…
Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.