“The Breakfast Club” is a day in the life of five Chicago teens who attend Shermer High School. Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez), John Bender (Judd Nelson), Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald), Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall), and Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) all find themselves in detention under the watchful eye of authoritarian bully and teacher Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason). In theory, because of their disparate high-school social circles, they could all give each other the cold shoulder and sit in awkward and indifferent silence until the end credits … but that wouldn’t be a very compelling movie.
After Bender does a little prodding, poking, and probing to get under the skin of his fellow detainees, sparks begin to fly. Pretty soon everyone’s asking themselves and one another some pretty difficult questions about their place and purpose in life. Ironically, at the beginning of detention, their teacher sets them the task of writing an essay about who they think they are as individuals. The five teens all draw an interesting conclusion — not through solitary contemplation, but through interaction, arguing, emotional confessions, and acknowledging hard truths. Instead of losing touch with their true selves to a constricting and increasingly narrow range of expectations, they throw off the shackles of conformity and celebrate the unlimited power and potential of youth to plow new paths and aim for brighter horizons.
