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The Breakfast Club

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The Breakfast Club (1984)

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Reviews Counted:42

Fresh:38

Rotten:4

Average Rating:7.5/10

Consensus: The Breakfast Club is a warm, insightful, and very funny look into the inner lives of teenagers.

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: When five high school students from different social groups are forced to spend a Saturday together in detention, they find themselves interacting with and understanding each other for the first... When five high school students from different social groups are forced to spend a Saturday together in detention, they find themselves interacting with and understanding each other for the first time. A jock (Emilio Estevez), a criminal (Judd Nelson), a princess (Molly Ringwald), a basket case (Ally Sheedy), and a brain (Anthony Michael Hall) talk about everything from parental tension to sex to peer pressure to hurtful stereotypes while serving time. Ultimately, the five find that they may have more in common than they ever imagined and learn more about themselves as well as each other. The only question is, Will they remember what they've learned after they leave detention? Director and writer John Hughes, along with the stellar Brat Pack, cast makes this a memorable, moving film filled with believable dialogue, intelligent humor, and a sufficient dose of high school hijinx. Its timeless appeal makes this film a teen classic along with Hughes's other teen films from the 1980s: SIXTEEN CANDLES and FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF. A great soundtrack features the hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds. [More]

Starring: Paul Gleason, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall

Starring: Paul Gleason, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, John Kapelos, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Ron Dean

Director: John Hughes

Director: John Hughes
Producer: John Hughes, Ned Tanen
Screenwriter: John Hughes
Composer: Gary Chang, Keith Forsey

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Sep 2, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Breakfast Club

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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An iconic movie of the '80s, with all the unappealing baggage that suggests.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out

No review available.

comment Comment
02/18/07
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

Mr. Hughes, having thought up the characters and simply flung them together, should have left well enough alone.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 2 Comments
07/18/07
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety

One of the few teen-oriented films that truly addresses the troubles of its characters, yet it falters in dealing with the issues raised.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/18/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Shot in sequence during 1984, The Breakfast Club became a benchmark for all that followed in the genre.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Ben Falk
Ben Falk
BBC

No review available.

comment Comment
12/23/02
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

A teen classic and one of the holy five John Hughes films from the 80's.

comment Comment
10/07/03
Blake Davis
Blake Davis
KFOR Channel 4 News

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.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Brad Laidman
Brad Laidman
Film Threat

decent Brat Pack movie, but not the best. Anthony Michael Hall is hilarious as usual. Chicks cannot hold de smoke . . . dat's what it is.

comment Comment
03/18/03
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

There's not a single false beat to be found, concluding Breakfast with a singular display of emotional discharge unheard of in its genre.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
09/08/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
DVDTalk.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/17/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

the Most Meaningful of all the John Hughes teen movies

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

One of the best films ever made...I mean it!

comment Comment
03/11/05
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

Time capsule.

comment Comment
02/16/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

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.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
07/18/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
11/05/04
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Offers a breakthrough portrait of the pain and miunderstanding which result from demeaning social hierarchies set up by teenagers.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
08/22/04
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

In The Breakfast Club, Hughes has created a surprisingly enduring motion picture that is still effective 13 years after its theatrical debut.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Teen comedy-drama, over easy.

comment Comment
07/06/05
James Plath
James Plath
DVDTown.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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Latest News for The Breakfast Club

August 12, 2009: Molly Ringwald Pays Tribute to John Hughes Opens in new window
Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink star on the director's "neverland". More...

August 06, 2009: John Hughes: 1950-2009
John Hughes, the director, producer, and writer whose insightful and heartfelt teen comedies defined an era, died Thursday of cardiac arrest. He was 59 years old. Hughes became... More...

March 03, 2008: Who's Ready for a "Modern-Day Breakfast Club"?
Stop us if you've heard this one before: Five people, each from different walks of life, are forced into close quarters...and they walk away friends. More...

May 30, 2006: TV Staple Paul Gleason Succumbs to Lung Cancer
Paul Gleason, who frequently played figures of authority in his four decades-long television and film career, died Saturday from a form of lung cancer linked to asbestos... More...

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