THE BREAKFAST CLUB
(R)
MOVIE: ***** (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ***1/2 (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
John Hughes’ most celebrated film turns 25 this year, and Universal has brought it to Blu-ray. “The Breakfast Club” tells the story of five high school students spending a Saturday in detention. They come into the library as their stereotypes of a jock, a princess, a brain, a criminal and a basket case. However, after spending a day with each other, they learn that each one is more than their own label.
WHAT I LIKED
I was only fourteen when “The Breakfast Club” came out, and with it being an R-rated film, I didn’t get a chance to see it in the theaters. However, I saw it pretty soon after it hit VHS, and I loved it then. It spoke to my generation. Thinking back to my school days in the 1980s, I can’t come up with a more iconic and inspriational piece for my generation.
“The Breakfast Club” could have been a theater play with its simplicity and character study. It’s nothing too complex, and sure it falls into cliche a few times, but it’s forever relateable. After all, who hasn’t been able to watch this film and name an example of each kid from his or her high school. I know I can (though they will remain nameless to protect the innocent and the guilty).
“The Breakfast Club” wasn’t a coming-of-age film. Rather, it was an awakening for anyone watching it. It showed how people really are, warts and all. The actions of the characters in this film are not perfect. They are not always pretty. Sometimes they are downright ugly. Mean things are said and not taken back. And when you step back from teh story, things down wrap up like they should. But they wrap up like they would.
As a child of this era, I have a very personal connection to this movie, and it’s one of those films I can watch again and again. In fact, when I put this Blu-ray in to revisit it probably for the first time in the better part of two decades, I though I’d stop it in the middle. But even though I started it at 5 a.m., I watched the whole damn thing without pausing once.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Sure, I don’t like what some of the kids do in this film, but that’s life. And that’s why it’s such a great film.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The 25th anniversary Blu-ray comes with a 12-part documentary looking back on the film, featuring interviews with Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and other cast members. It’s almost as interesting and compelling as the film itsle.f
There’s also a documentary called “The Most Convenient Definitions: The Origins of the Brat Pack” which gives the members of said Brat Pack a chance to defend themselves. Finally, there’s a feature commentary with Judd Nelson and Anthony Michael Hall, not nearly as confrontational as they are in the film.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Children of the 80s and probably modern-day high school kids.