Re: The Wing Kong Exchange
The Breakfast Club
When five teenagers are forced to spend their Saturday serving detention in school, their typical stereotypes are broken down. As the kids learn more about each other they come to find that they have a lot more in common than any of them thought, including a hatred of their principal, Mr. Vernon.
As I roll back to the 1980’s due to the untimely passing of Randy Savage I felt it would be fun to look at some of the greatest comedies of the decade. If for nothing else they help to take my mind off of how bummed out I am over the loss of one of my heroes. I hit upon the idea when doing UHF and Transylvania 6-5000 over the weekend and have compiled a list of about 15 or so that I will begin reviewing today. So, that means that for the next two weeks, Fuji’s going “Back to the 80’s”. Starting us off today is John Hughes classic, The Breakfast Club, once called “the king of watchable teen movies” by none other than esteemed film critic Leonard Maltin. Hughes seamlessly integrates all the trials and tribulations of being a teenager into one neat, 97 minute package that pulls no punches and offers a remarkably realistic and truthful depiction of all the emotions one goes through in their formative years. It’s not always pretty, but then again neither is growing up, something that Hughes understands completely.
The film, which is also written by Hughes (because he was brilliant you know) stars Emilio Estevez (Stakeout, Mighty Ducks), Anthony Michael Hall (Sixteen Candles…coming tomorrow), Molly Ringwald (Pretty in Pink…coming Thursday), Ally Sheedy (Short Circuit…coming soon, lol, but that’s it, I’m not giving any more away), Judd Nelson (From the Hip) and John Kapelos (Weird Science). Last but certainly not least it features a standout performance from the late Paul Gleason as the principal, Richard Vernon. Gleason, as we will soon see, rivals RJ Fletcher from UHF as one of the absolute all time movie Douchebags and is a wonderful character that comes to represent all the anti-authoritarian views that are shared by teenagers the world over. He is so good in this role that I wonder whether he was actually like this in real life, it is an extremely convincing performance to be sure.
In fact, all of the kids are convincing in their various roles, from Estevez as the Jock to Hall as the typical nerd, from Ringwald as the princess to Nelson as the bad boy. Sheedy is particularly engaging as Allison, the space cadet that everyone knew in high school, giving us some hilarious moments, in particular one where she creates “snow” in a picture she has drawn by shaking the dandruff out of her hair. The emotions are on overload here as well, as several of the characters break down at least once in the film, yet they never come across as hokey or unrealistic. In fact just the opposite occurs, as one genuinely feels compassion for these characters mainly because we have all been, to some extent, in these people’s shoes at one time or another in our teenage lives. Estevez in particular has a gripping scene where he admits his hatred for his father due to being pushed into doing something he doesn’t want to do.
There are also a lot of hilarious moments including the breakout to steal Bender’s dope, the scene where they are all high, including Estevez somehow screaming loud enough to shatter glass!! Now that’s a tough dude right there. However the hilarity is quickly tempered by the emotional imbalance of the main characters, giving us something of a true emotional rollercoaster not unlike the experience one has as a teenager. Hughes somehow managed to make you live the film as if you were a teenager, whether you were one or not. Every one of us can identify with these characters because we were all one of them if not combinations of several. At the end of the day, we are all the same, regardless of our social standing or outward appearances, and that is the message that Hughes gets across remarkably well.
As I said before though, the standout is Gleason, embodying everything that we’ve come to hate about authority figures in general, our parents included. Indeed Gleason’s role as a surrogate parent to the children is one that had to be handled perfectly, and he was certainly up to the task. From his exchanges of dialogue with Bender, to his insulting Estevez for not being able to keep a door open, through his great moment with Kapelos when he is discussing his fear that these children will be the ones taking care of him in the future, Gleason is nothing short of a revelation and the absolute best part of this film. His “mess with the bull and you get the horns” speech is one of the best you will ever hear in an 80’s teen film, and indeed in any film featuring an authority figure undermine the freedom of speech of a subject.
In rating this film I find it hard not to give it a perfect score because it is indeed the perfect teen angst movie and a crowning achievement for Mr. Hughes. That, coupled with the excellent and poignant Simple Minds song “Don’t You Forget About Me” is enough to put it over the top and give it my highest recommendation. If you haven’t seen this film it is very important that you do, as you will come away from it feeling a lot better about yourself and with the realization that, at the end of the day, we are all the same. I leave you with the words written on the essay handed in to Vernon by Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall) and the knowledge that this is indeed a
10/10.
“Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did WAS wrong. But we think you’re crazy to try and make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.”
