The Breakfast Club

Cast of The Breakfast Club standing behind a locked gate.

Summary:

Picture this: it’s a Saturday morning, March 24, 1984, and five Shermer High School students from different social cliques find themselves in the same predicament—a day-long detention. We’ve got the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the princess, and the criminal, all stuck together in the school library under the “watchful eye” of Vice Principle Vernon. As the day unfolds, these seemingly unrelated young adults discover they have more in common than they ever imagined. Through laughter, tears, and a healthy dose of rebellion, they break down the walls of high school stereotypes and form bonds unlikely to be forgotten. In the end we learn we’re all pretty bizarre.  Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.

Breakfast Club Actors/Roles:

  • Brainiac, Brian Johnson, played by Anthony Michael Hall.
  • The jock, Andrew Clark, portrayed by Emilio Estevez.
  • The enigmatic rebel (criminal) John Bender, brought to life by Judd Nelson.
  • The quirky basket case Allison Reynolds, played by Ally Sheedy. And,
  • The impeccably popular princess Claire Standish, portrayed by Molly Ringwald.

The Breakfast Club Soundtrack:

As the opening credits role the song most associated with the movie Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds is playing.  An instrumental of the song continues as Hall provides a voice over explain the backstory of how we got here.  One of the popular scenes in the movie is when they group partakes of Bender’s stash and dance around the library as Johnson plays DJ with the library’s record collection and when the group is being chased through the halls.  These high-energy songs are provided by Wang Chung and Keith Forsey. The song Don’t You (Forget About Me) plays again at the end as the student’s day wraps up and as viewers, we’re left to contemplate the assumptions and choices we make.

While not played in the movie, the movie opens with the words “…and these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds; are immune to your consultations, they are quite aware of what they are going through…” from David Bowie’s Changes.   As Hall gives his opening monologue and images flash across the screen “I Don’t Like Monday’s” is scratched into the wall – a reference to the 1979 song by Boomtown Rats.

Here’s a video homage to the movie featuring Simple Minds from HD Film Tributes


U.S. Premier: Feb 15, 1985