Next up for #Johnuary is our look at John Hughe’s seminal 80s coming-of-age movie, The Breakfast Club.

I had obviously heard of this film, as it often comes near the top of people’s greatest ever 80s movies. Often only bettered by Back to the Future in these lists. I had somehow never seen it, however, so was looking forward to watching it. I had actually heard from a few people recently that it hadn’t held up as well as they had hoped. But I went in with an open mind.

Here are my real time thoughts whilst watching this film.

• This is the first fully John Hughes project as he wrote, directed and also produced this film.
• Hughes really does have Molly Ringwald as his muse (and Anthony Michael Hall). He supposedly wrote Sixteen Candles with her in mind after seeing her headshot during casting, and she is a central character in this film and he would obviously go on to use her again in Pretty in Pink. Interestingly though Ringwald was originally meant to play the Ally Sheady character, but she asked if she could play the Claire role instead
• Interesting how they have “In alphabetical order” when they list the cast names in the titles. I wonder if there was any arguments about the order, or if Hughes just thought it would be more sensible to do it that way, as there was no breakout star at that point. It was early days of the ‘Brat Pack’
• Obviously it’s a great title track by the awesome Scottish band, Simple Minds. “Don’t You (Forgot About Me)” will be forever associated with this film.
• I found it interesting that it started with a Bowie quote. Very cool. And then interesting how it just shatters at the end
• Shermer High School – I recognised the name and also the front of the school. I’m sure it’s the same front as in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. After a bit of research I’ve discovered that Shermer High School appears in 3 or 4 of John Hughes’ films. And that Glenbrook North High School on Shermer Road, Illinois was actually where Hughes went to school. Hughes actually shot Ferris Bueller’s Day Off back to back with The Breakfast Club, with many scenes being at the same school.
• It’s a very stylish intro sequence
• Paul Gleason – I’d only seen him before in Trading Places. He is fantastic in the teacher role. Very funny.
• Ally Sheady is hilarious, and very different to her main role I knew her from, in WarGames. But her dandruff scene is pretty disgusting
• Carl the janitor, played by John Kapelos, is great. Although from what I had previously heard about the janitor I thought he would have had a bigger role in the movie. Rick Moranis was actually originally considered for this role.
• I love how the teacher is making paper cup shapes, and stuffing half oranges into his mouth. Details like that are always what make films memorable and relatable.
• Funny to see that sushi was such a cool, new thing in 1985
• Crisp sandwiches are the way forward. I don’t know why they’re giving her such strange looks about it!
• There are some bits where music is very cleverly used to emphasis a point or emotion. John Hughes really does know how to use music well. Not just choosing an appropriate song to play but actually editing the movie around moments or crescendos in the music.
• Judd Nelson is a pretty good basketball player
• I’m not sure what they were smoking, but I certainly wasn’t expecting Emilio Estevez to react like he did. I’ll have what he’s having.
• Loving Anthony Michael Hall’s calculator watch
• The scene where they’re all sitting round and opening up to each other is probably the pivotal scene of the movie. It’s very well written and some of the acting is great. Scenes like this are what John Hughes is great at. He doesn’t need flashy effects or big set pieces. Just strong characters and great acting.
• This might be sacrilege to some people, but I’m not totally convinced about Judd Nelson I’m afraid. He’s the one cast member I’m not totally sure about. He does very well but I’d be interested to have seen someone else in the role. I know Nicholas Cage had been looked at originally, which I would have loved to see. John Cusack was considered too but I don’t think he would have been right. I’m sure if I watch it again I’ll get into Nelson’s performance even more. Maybe it was just that his character rubbed me up the wrong way in places, and I’m sure that was part of the plan.
• The only thing I didn’t particularly like was how easily Molly Ringwald kissed Judd Nelson at the end, and then also Ally Sheedy and Emilio Estevez kissing. That was the only bit was slightly too much 80s cheese. But hey, a bit of 80s cheese is totally fine. And it was a bit strange that they all openly kiss while their parents are like two metres away in their cars. Nice touch with Judd Nelson putting the earring in his ear though.
• I’d say the two things that really make this film are the script and the acting. Hughes was really pinning all that money on the performances of five young actors. That must be quite stressful unless you’re totally confident in your casting process. The script is so good though, which is probably Hughes’ main expertise.
• The film only cost around $1million to make. I guess having it all filmed in one location must really help. It grossed over $51million. This really helped John Hughes make his mark.

I was worried that I wouldn’t like this movie after all the hype I had heard over the years. But I loved it. I felt it totally held up and was pretty stylish and funny in how it had been made. I think this one will rank very highly in my ranking of Hughes’ work at the end of the week.

Images from Blu-Ray.com

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