The Breakfast Club (1985)
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 44
Fresh: 40 | Rotten: 4
The Breakfast Club is a warm, insightful, and very funny look into the inner lives of teenagers.
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 3
The Breakfast Club is a warm, insightful, and very funny look into the inner lives of teenagers.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 470,659
My Rating
Movie Info
John Hughes wrote and directed this quintessential 1980s high school drama featuring the hottest young stars of the decade. Trapped in a day-long Saturday detention in a prison-like school library are Claire, the princess (Molly Ringwald); Andrew, the jock (Emilio Estevez); John, the criminal (Judd Nelson); Brian, the brain (Anthony Michael Hall); and Allison, the basket case (Ally Sheedy). These five strangers begin the day with nothing in common, each bound to his/her place in the high school
May 15, 1985 Wide
Sep 2, 2003
Universal Pictures
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Emilio Estevez
Andrew Clark -
Judd Nelson
John Bender -
Molly Ringwald
Claire Standish -
Anthony Michael Hall
Brian Johnson -
Ally Sheedy
Allison Reynolds -
Paul Gleason
Richard Vernon -
John Kapelos
Carl -
Mary Christian
Brian's Sister -
Perry Crawford
Allison's Father -
Ron Dean
Andy's Father -
Tim Gamble
Claire's Father -
Fran Gargano
Allison's Mother -
Mercedes Hall
Brian's Mother -
-
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (4) | DVD (22)
In nine hours of threatening, bickering and, eventually, poignant (but never maudlin) self-revelation, the stereotypes dissolve and re-form.
John Hughes's 1985 film seems meant to explain 80s youngsters to yesterday's youth, and comes to the comforting conclusion that they're just as alienated, idealistic, and vulnerable as the baby boomers of the 1960s.
Does director John Hughes really believe, as he writes here, that 'when you grow up, your heart dies.' It may. But not unless the brain has already started to rot with films like this.
An iconic movie of the '80s, with all the unappealing baggage that suggests.
Top CriticThe Breakfast Club doesn't need earthshaking revelations; it's about kids who grow willing to talk to one another, and it has a surprisingly good ear for the way they speak.
Mr. Hughes, having thought up the characters and simply flung them together, should have left well enough alone.
A movie that has far more problems than its reputation would suggest, the kind of flaws that can be very readily glossed over in a fit of fond remembrance.
It's a movie for anyone who's ever had zits.
There's not a single false beat to be found, concluding Breakfast with a singular display of emotional discharge unheard of in its genre.
Time capsule.
Good and bad, it's still the definitive '80s teen movie.
One of the few teen-oriented films that truly addresses the troubles of its characters, yet it falters in dealing with the issues raised.
The Breakfast Club was teen-auteur John Hughes' attempt to take a step back and evaluate the large horde of teens our schools turn out and how they desperately search for identity.
Equal parts funny, smart and sincere, it's a movie that delved a little deeper into the teenage psyche and came back with something more challenging than "nerds want sex."
Teen comedy-drama, over easy.
Anyone who has ever been to high school can relate to at least one of these kids.
...Hughes may have been the first filmmaker to attempt to put plausible teenagers on screen
One of the best films ever made...I mean it!
Audience Reviews for The Breakfast Club
Super Reviewer
-
- Andrew Clark: That's really intelligent.
- John Bender: You're right. It's wrong to literature. It's such fun to read. And Moe-Lay really pumps my nads.
- Claire Standish: Moliere.
-
- John Bender: What's that?
- Claire Standish: Sushi.
- John Bender: Sushi?
- Claire Standish: Rice, raw fish and seaweed.
- John Bender: You won't accept a guy's tongue in your mouth, and you're going to eat that?
- Claire Standish: Can i eat?
- John Bender: I don't know. Give it a try.
-
- John Bender: It was an accident.
- Claire Standish: You're an asshole.
- John Bender: Sue me.
-
- John Bender: Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place.
-
- John Bender: You know what I got for Christmas this year? It was a banner fuckin' year at the old Bender family. I got a carton of cigarettes. The old man grabbed me and said "Hey. Smoke up Johnny."
-
- Allison Reynolds: I'd do that. I'll do anything sexual, and I don't need a million dollars to do it either. I'm a nymphomaniac
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for The Breakfast Club yet.
Latest News on The Breakfast Club
August 16, 2012:
Five Favorite Films with ParaNorman Directors Chris Butler and Sam FellFollowing the success of Henry Selick's wondrous Coraline in 2009, the team at Laika studios are...
March 27, 2012:
Five Favorite Films with Lily CollinsLily Collins was born into fame -- her dad, Phil, could bang a drum and write a hit tune or two --...
March 4, 2011:
Five Favorite Films with Malin Akerman, Kate Mara and Josh RadnorIt's a three-in-one Five Favorite Film fest today, as we sat down with the stars and writer-director...
What's Hot On RT
The Last Stand, Side Effects
Trailer for James Franco adaptation
Rachel McAdams' time travel romantic drama
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Ranking the Blockbusters with Summer Movie Scorecard 2013 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Last Stand and Side Effects 5
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Star Trek Softer Than Expected at #1 77
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 37
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 106
- Red Carpet Roundup: Star Trek Into Darkness Edition 0
- Video Interviews with Katie Aselton & Lake Bell of Black Rock 2
Top Headlines
-
Alex Gibney Talks We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
0
-
RED Screenwriters Returning for RED 3
0
-
Brave's Brenda Chapman Talks Merida Makeover Controversy
0
-
Gold Discovers Spike Lee
1
-
Morgan Freemand and Diane Keaton Team Up for Life Itself
0
-
The Ten O'Clock People Are Counting on Chris Evans
0
-
Marton Csokas in Talks for The Equalizer
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- Breakfast Club - Der Frühstücksclub (DE)
- El club de los cinco (ES)
Seeing as how I was only born a year after this movie came out, I don't have the nostalgia for it that many do. I did however, first discover it at a young and impressionable age, so, even though it doesn't resonate with me on a level like something from my own generation, it still hits big emotionally and with experiences and relatability.
In a way, this movie isn't really dated becasue of that, and the message in general. It may be set in the 80s, and deal with instances and situations anchored in that time, but the overall impact and point is timeless, and I'd like to think that that was the whole point all along.