BREAKFAST CLUB Thoughts

The other night I tuned in just in time to see the closing credits of THE BREAKFAST CLUB, that Gen-X classic still much beloved by at least a few different age groups.   I was bummed.   Judd Nelson's fist was frozen in his moment of victory.  What led him to this point, the non-watcher may ask.

BC was a bit out of the box for its time. The premise of having five high schoolers talk about themselves on basically one set (library) might've been a tough sell to studio execs.  But writer-director John Hughes, the bard of the 80s teen dramedy, somehow knew his tale would click with teens. He was right. It was a minor phenom in its day. Since then, it remains an oft quoted piece of pop culture.

When I first saw it, I was smack in the middle of high school.  It seemed that these "types": prom queen, jock, nerd, hoodlum, and recluse, represented people around me.   It seemed fresh, but even then I knew it wasn't anything "new."  The issues discussed in the film were as old as mankind.   I gave this film a four-star rating.

Over the years, I've caught bits and pieces, realizing that the film is, well, not a 4-star affair.  There are some crawlingly bad moments-the lip synch and marijuana sequences especially. The nadir comes when Emilio Estevez, after several puffs, screams and shatters a glass door.  OK.   Most of the music is VERY dated. But, that's part of the charm. The film is of its time yet timeless. THE BREAKFAST CLUB is a relic, one which evokes a variety of memories of my own hs experiences, good and bad. The ultimate: setting up a screening of BC in my old high school gymnasium.  Man, would that be a wallow! Unfortunately, that gym no longer exists. The wrecking ball claimed it in '03 to make way for a more modern athletic facility.  It's OK, I can watch BC on a plasma and take that trip anytime.....