My First Movie Review

Movie: The Breakfast Club


BRAINSTORMING:

• five high school students get detention, and are required to write an essay on who they think they are
• the movie brings together people from different levels of the social hierarchy of high school
• shows peer to peer interaction that wouldn't normally happen in social life
• john bender: the rebel/punk of the group. detention is normal for him.
• andy clark: stereotypical high school jock.
• claire standish: stereotypical popular girl of high school.
• allison reynolds: the "basket case" of the group. known to be a freak, outcast.
• brian johnson: the nerd of the group. often mocked by others in school.
• the reasons why each of the people are in detention are revealed throughout the film, implying a level of trust that is forming between the five students
• unexpected romances between andy and allison, and claire and bender, form throughout the film
• the movie makes you feel hope in the idea that people can get past social labels and connect with others
• multiple members of the "brat pack" (molly ringwald, ally sheedy, emilio estevez, anthony michael hall, judd nelson) were cast in the film
• the film is able to incorporate serious issues (suicide, abuse, peer pressure) with fun situations successfully
• the movie leaves you wondering whether or not the members of the breakfast club will be able to continue their relationships outside of detention

REVIEW OF THE BREAKFAST CLUB

In the film The Breakfast Club, the impossible is accomplished. The barriers in schools do not solely refer to physical walls; they also refer to invisible, unwritten, yet highly acknowledgeable barriers between cliques in the social hierarchy of high school. To knock down these barriers would require unraveling years upon years of feuds and of friendships, yet The Breakfast Club was able to accomplish this in ninety-three minutes. The film brought together five unlikely canidates: the rebel, the jock, the queen bee, the basket case, and the nerd, and brought them from being miles apart to closer than any of them could have imagined. The students are sentenced to a nearly nine-hour detention, in which they are each required to write a 1,000-word essay on who they are. Throughout the film, the walls between the students break down and new bonds of trust are built. Secrets, such as abusive households and compulsive lying, are exposed as the members of the group form newfound friendships and romantic interests. Besides being addictively funny and charming, one of the film's major successes is its ability to take comical situations and uses them to let tough issues emerge, showing greater depth to the group than any of its members could have thought the others possessed.