What: The Breakfast Club
When: 1985
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy
Directed by: John Hughes
The premise: Five high school students, each fitting a different “kids you’ll find in high school” profile, are forced to serve detention on a Saturday morning for various transgressions. Over the course of their day in the library, they learn a lot about each other and themselves.
The reason for the throwback: I can’t lie—I’ve been thinking about The Breakfast Club a ton thanks to Pitch Perfect, the Anna Kendrick & Co. singalong guilty pleasure that I may or may not have watched 37 times over the last six months.
I’d be mad at Skyler Astin’s character “Jesse” for getting this movie stuck in my head if not for the fact that (1) he’s right — “Don’t You (Forget About Me) is the perfect song to close the flick and (2) I didn’t already love The Breakfast Club.
How can you not? It is the quintessential teens discover themselves movie and John Hughes (may he rest in peace) is at his best in this one, and that’s saying something because there are some classic flicks in the John Hughes portfolio.
Here’s the thing: as much as it looks campy now because it was released damn near 30 years ago, everything about the movie stands the test of time.
Walk into a high school and you’re still going to find a “Claire,” the popular girl wouldn’t normally associate with anyone outside of her clique or level of status. There are a handful of “Andy Clarks” in every school—the gifted athlete who wants to be more for more than just his sports success.
Same goes for introverted, detached girls like “Allison Reynolds,” grade-obsessed smart kids that don’t just want to be known as the smart kid like “Brian Ralph Johnson,” and a few “John Benders,” rebels without any discernable cause that just need a little positive influence in their lives.
Sure it sounds hokey—and the archetypes have changed a little over the years—but the issues this collection of “Brat Pack” actors deal with on screen still exist for kids in their position today.
It’s the consensus top movie about high school, made Empire’s list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time (#389 thankyouverymuch) and The New York Times’ Best 1000 Movies Ever list.
Plus, there’s the sage advice of Assistant Principal Richard “Dick” Vernon: “Don’t mess with the bull, young man — you’ll get the horns.”
You have exactly 8 hours and 54 minutes to find and watch The Breakfast Club to make this Throwback Thursday completely awesome.
(Hint: you might want to check Netflix… )
