The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen drama film written and directed by John Hughes. The storyline follows five teenagers (each a member of a different
high schoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
cliqueA clique is an exclusive group of people who share common interests, views, purposes, patterns of behavior, or ethnicity. A clique as a reference group can be either normative or comparative. Membership in a clique is typically exclusive, and qualifications for membership may be social or...
) as they spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all deeper than their respective
stereotypeA stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s.
Plot
The plot follows five students at fictional Shermer High School in the fictitious
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
suburb of Shermer, Illinois as they report for Saturday detention on March 24, 1984. While not complete strangers, the five teenagers are each from a different clique or social group.
The five students - Allison Reynolds (
Ally SheedyAlexandra Elizabeth "Ally" Sheedy is an American film and stage actress, as well as the author of two books. She is best known for her roles in the Brat Pack films The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire.-Early life:...
), Andrew Clark (
Emilio EstevezEmilio Estevez is an American actor, film director, and writer. He started his career as an actor and is well-known for being a member of the acting Brat Pack of the 1980s, starring in The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire...
), John Bender (
Judd NelsonJudd Asher Nelson is an American actor. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St...
), Brian Johnson (
Anthony Michael HallMichael Anthony Hall , known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor, film producer and director who starred in several teen-oriented films of the 1980s. Hall began his career in commercials and on stage as a child, and made his screen debut in 1980...
), and Claire Standish (
Molly RingwaldMolly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
) - who seem to have nothing in common at first, come together at the high school library, where they are harangued and ordered not to speak or move from their seats by the antagonistic teacher supervising them, Richard Vernon (
Paul GleasonPaul Xavier Gleason was an American film and television actor, known for his roles on TV series such as All My Children and films such as The Breakfast Club, Trading Places and Die Hard.-Early life:...
). They are to remain for a period of eight hours, fifty-four minutes (from 7:06 A.M. to 4 P.M., the only indication of time being on a clock that is 20 minutes fast). He assigns a 1,000 word essay (in which each student must write about who he or she thinks they are) and then leaves them mostly unsupervised, returning only occasionally to check on them. Bender, who has a particularly negative relationship with Mr. Vernon, disregards the rules and riles the other students; mocking Brian and Andrew, and
sexually harassingSexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
Claire. Allison remains oddly quiet except for the occasional random outburst.
The students pass the hours in a variety of ways. Gradually they open up to each other and reveal their inner secrets (for example, Allison is a compulsive liar, Bender comes from an abusive household and Brian and Claire are ashamed of their
virginityVirginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
). They also discover that they all have strained relationships with their parents and are afraid of making the same mistakes as the adults around them. However, despite these developing friendships the students are afraid that once the detention is over, they will return to their very different cliques and never speak to each other again.
At the request and consensus of the students, Brian is asked to write the essay Mr. Vernon assigned earlier (the subject of which was to be a synopsis by each student detailing "who you think you are"), which challenges Mr. Vernon and his preconceived judgments about all of them. Brian does so, but instead of writing about the assigned topic, he writes a very motivating letter that is, in essence, the main point of the story: that each of them (or any person, in that matter) is a bit of everything and not the whole of what people see in them. He signs the essay as "The Breakfast Club" and leaves it at the table for Mr. Vernon to read when they leave. There are two versions of this letter, one read at the beginning and one at the end, which are slightly different; illustrating the change in the students' judgments of one another and their realization that they truly have things in common.
The beginning letter is as follows:
- Brian Johnson (although that is unknown at this point): Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois. 60062.
- Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong...and what we did was wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us... in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed.
The end letter is as follows:
- Brian Johnson: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong...but we think you're crazy to 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 and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...
- Andrew Clark: ...and an athlete...
- Allison Reynolds: ...and a basket case...
- Claire Standish: ...a princess...
- John Bender: ...and a criminal...
- Brian Johnson: Does that answer your question?
- Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.
The film ends with the students walking down the hallway to leave the school. Outside, Allison and Andrew are shown kissing, as well as Claire and Bender. Claire gives Bender her earring, which he puts on after she leaves. Bender walks on the school's football field and pumps his fist into the air, and freeze framed the scene.
Cast of characters
- Judd Nelson
Judd Asher Nelson is an American actor. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St...
as John Bender - The Criminal... He gets detention for setting off a false fire alarm. Bender mostly annoys and insults everyone at first, but most of his angst is directed at Claire. Later on, he reveals the reason for his angry behavior is that he has an abusive, alcoholic father who once burned a cigar on his arm for spilling paint in the garage. Andrew thinks that he's lying for it's all a part of his image, realizing only when he shows the scar from the burn is he telling the truth. At the end of the film, he and Claire become attracted to each other, kiss, and she gives him one of her earrings. Note: in the beginning of the film, Bender is shown humming "Sunshine of Your Love."
- Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez is an American actor, film director, and writer. He started his career as an actor and is well-known for being a member of the acting Brat Pack of the 1980s, starring in The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire...
as Andrew "Andy" Clark - The Athlete... He gets detention for taping teammate Larry Lester's "buns"The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
together. He did the deed to earn the respect of his stern father, whom he hates, but admits that he deeply regrets doing it later in the movie, in tears. His father is a former high school football player who wants him to do well and be number one at all times. He starts having a curiosity for Allison and her wild behavior. It seems that he finds Allison attractive when Claire gives her a makeoverA makeover is a term applied to changing one's appearance, sometimes through cosmetics. Makeovers can range from something as simple as a new haircut, to the use of cosmetic surgery, to the extreme of the implantation of dental veneers, eye-color-changing contact lenses, and the use of...
. Also at the end of the film we see Andrew and Allison kissing.
- Anthony Michael Hall
Michael Anthony Hall , known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor, film producer and director who starred in several teen-oriented films of the 1980s. Hall began his career in commercials and on stage as a child, and made his screen debut in 1980...
as Brian Johnson - The Brain... He gets detention for having a flare gunA flare gun is a firearm that launches flares. It is typically used for signalling, as distress signalling, at sea or from the ground to aircraft...
in his locker that went off by accident. He has trouble adapting to the others at first and tries to maintain peace, with little to no success. Johnson has a more troubled home life because his stern parents want him to do well academically and he has thought about committing suicide, the main reason that he had the gun in the first place. At the end, he writes the essay for Mr. Vernon on how he sees the group, thus giving them the name "the Breakfast Club".
- Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
as Claire Standish - The Princess... She gets detention for skipping school to go shopping at the mall. She becomes the target of Bender's endless insults, mainly because she is too popular and supposedly has a perfect life. It is revealed that she thinks her parents use her as a bargaining chip so they can get back at each other.
- Ally Sheedy
Alexandra Elizabeth "Ally" Sheedy is an American film and stage actress, as well as the author of two books. She is best known for her roles in the Brat Pack films The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire.-Early life:...
as Allison Reynolds - The Basketcase... She did nothing to get detention. She goes to detention simply because she has "nothing better to do." She later says that her neglectful parents ignore her all the time, and thinks about running away whenever she feels like it. Her first word is "HA", she tries to open up her problems out to them at the beginning; they don't care but soon do. Andrew starts to find her interesting and is the first to talk to her seriously. At the end of the film, Claire gives her a makeover and Andrew shows interest in her.
- Paul Gleason
Paul Xavier Gleason was an American film and television actor, known for his roles on TV series such as All My Children and films such as The Breakfast Club, Trading Places and Die Hard.-Early life:...
as Richard "Dick" Vernon - the principal at Shermer High and the main antagonist of the film, is a strict and stern person and does not take kindly to jokes around him. After Bender insults him numerous times, he gives him two months of detention. When Bender and the others go to the hall so he can retrieve marijuana from his locker, Bender takes the fall for everyone, allowing them to go back without getting caught. Vernon locks him in a storage closet for the remainder of the day and threatens him, making Bender think that he's not all tough. He also starts to wonder on how the kids will turn out in the future and shows serious concern about what will happen.
- John Kapelos
John Kapelos is a Canadian actor from London, Ontario. He is best known for his portrayals of janitor Carl Reed in The Breakfast Club and Detective Donald Schanke in Forever Knight....
as Carl Reed - the janitor of the school, when he catches Vernon viewing the confidential records of the school staff, he blackmails him. He seems to know Brian very well. In the opening scene, Carl's picture is placed on a plaque that reads, "Man of the Year" in 1969. Towards the ending, he questions his boss of why he gave the students the "Who Do You Think You Are" essay, because he states, "Listen Vernon, if you were sixteen, what would you think of you?"
Casting
Emilio EstevezEmilio Estevez is an American actor, film director, and writer. He started his career as an actor and is well-known for being a member of the acting Brat Pack of the 1980s, starring in The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire...
originally auditioned for the role of John Bender. However, when John Hughes was unable to find someone to play Andrew Clark, Estevez was recast.
Nicolas CageNicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
was considered for the role of John Bender. Bender was the last role to be cast, and it was between
John CusackJohn Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
and
Judd NelsonJudd Asher Nelson is an American actor. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St...
. Hughes eventually cast Cusack to play John Bender, but Hughes decided to replace Cusack with Nelson before shooting began because Cusack didn't look threatening enough for the role.
Molly RingwaldMolly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
wanted to play Allison Reynolds, but
Ally SheedyAlexandra Elizabeth "Ally" Sheedy is an American film and stage actress, as well as the author of two books. She is best known for her roles in the Brat Pack films The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire.-Early life:...
had already been promised the part.
Rick MoranisFrederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
was originally cast as the janitor; he left due to creative differences and was replaced by
John KapelosJohn Kapelos is a Canadian actor from London, Ontario. He is best known for his portrayals of janitor Carl Reed in The Breakfast Club and Detective Donald Schanke in Forever Knight....
. Ringwald and Hall dated briefly after filming ended.
John Hughes nearly fired Judd Nelson because he was constantly bullying co-star Molly Ringwald off camera. Finally Paul Gleason stood up for Nelson because he was staying in character.
Filming
In a piece about the film in a
October 1999 issue of
Premiere MagazinePremiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première , was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.-History:The magazine originally...
, John Hughes stated that due to his lack of experience as a filmmaker, his appeal to direct was met with resistance and skepticism. Hughes won the investors over with his argument that due to the film's low budget of one million dollars and its single-location shoot, the risks involved were minimal.
Shooting began on 28 March 1984 and ended in May of that year.
Filming took place at
Maine North High SchoolMaine North High School was a school in unincorporated Maine Township, part of Maine Township High School District 207 which includes Maine East, Maine West, and Maine South High Schools. It closed in 1981....
in
Des Plaines, IllinoisDes Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It has adopted the official nickname of "City of Destiny." As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 58,720. It is a suburb of Chicago, and is next to O'Hare International Airport...
, the same school used for some of the school-based scenes in John Hughes's
Ferris Bueller's Day OffFerris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 American teen coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by John Hughes.The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller , who decides to skip school and spend the day in downtown Chicago...
, which was released just a year after
The Breakfast Club. Maine North High School was closed in 1981 before John Hughes stepped in and used it as a filming location.
At the end of the movie, John Bender walks through Park Ridge's
Maine South High SchoolMaine South High School, or MSHS, is a public four-year high school located in Park Ridge, Illinois, a north-west suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Maine Township High School District 207, which also includes Maine East High School and Maine West High School.Maine...
's football field.
Some of the posters on the walls during filming of
The Breakfast Club were still there when
Ferris Bueller was filmed. On the
Ferris Bueller's Day Off DVD commentary (featured on the 2004 DVD version), John Hughes reveals that he shot the two films back to back to save time and money, and some outtakes of both films feature elements of the film crews working on the other film in each case. Hughes never disclosed, however, whether Ferris Bueller was intended to be a student at the same school as
The Breakfast Club students a year later.
Reception
The film holds a 91% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 42 reviews, with an average score of 7.5/10. The critical consensus is "The Breakfast Club is a warm, insightful, and very funny look into the inner lives of teenagers".
Review aggregator
MetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 62% based on 11 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "generally favorable reviews".
In 2008, the film was selected by
EmpireEmpire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine as one of
The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Similarly,
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
placed the film on its
Best 1000 Movies Ever list. The film ranked number 1 on
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
's list of the 50 Best High School Movies. It also debuted at #3 behind
Beverly Hills CopBeverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...
and
WitnessWitness is a 1985 American thriller film directed by Peter Weir and starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. The screenplay by William Kelley, Pamela Wallace, and Earl W...
.
Deleted scenes
John Hughes' first draft of the film was originally scripted to be a 2½ hours long. However, many of the scenes were cut and the
negativesIn photography, a negative may refer to three different things, although they are all related.-A negative:Film for 35 mm cameras comes in long narrow strips of chemical-coated plastic or cellulose acetate. As each image is captured by the camera onto the film strip, the film strip advances so that...
destroyed. He stated that he had the only complete version of
The Breakfast Club, a VHS copy, which he showed to the staff of
Premiere magazine for an article. The current whereabouts of this tape are unknown. Among the cut scenes from the movie (some filmed, some only written) are:
- The janitor Carl talks with Vernon about where the five kids will be in the future. According to Vernon, Bender will have killed himself, Claire will have had "two boob jobs and a face lift," Brian will have become very successful in a computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
company but will die of a heart attack due to the stress of the high paying job. Allison will be a great poet but no one will care and wait tables for the rest of her life, and Andy will marry an airline stewardess who will become ugly and fat after turning 30 and having kids. This was cut after producers found it to be too sadistic sounding.
- In a dream, Allison imagines Andy as a gluttonous Viking, Bender as a prisoner, Claire as a bride, Brian as an astronaut and herself as a vampire. In an unfilmed alternative to this dream, all five kids imagine random things, including cars, naked women, Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
, beer and fighter planes, and these things end up filling the room until Vernon interrupts.
- When the five kids are walking through the halls, there is a scene where Vernon is getting coffee, and Allison almost gets caught. On network TV airings of the film, this scene replaces the scene where Bender gets marijuana out of his locker.
- John Bender was not going to walk to school in the original script. He was going to be driven by his dad in a rusty tow truck, and have a brief fight with him before his dad drives off. Bender is also tossed a bagged lunch, his father saying "You are a waste of lunch-meat!"
- After Bender demonstrates "Life at Big Bri's house" Brian stops Bender and corrects him with a much more pessimistic version of the skit. Claire then proceeds to act out her life before asking Bender to demonstrate his version. Bender's routine changes as well here. After Bender mimics his mom, he stops, commenting that "then they make me work to pay off the dentist for the teeth HE busts."
- In the scene where Bender is inspecting Brian's lunch, there is a note in the lunch from his mom and John reads it.
- The scene where Andy and Allison are walking to get the sodas is extended to a point where Allison pulls out a pack of cigarettes and smokes one.
- After getting the sodas, Bender shakes his can violently and places it among the five to see who gets the rigged one. Allison ends up getting it, and when she opens the can, all the soda squirts directly into her mouth.
- After Vernon asks who has to use the lavatory, the five go to the bathroom. Vernon gives the boys two minutes and the girls three minutes. Claire catches Allison in a stall eating a bag of chips, repulsing her. Bender mocks Brian for sitting down to urinate instead of using a urinal.
- When Allison says, "I can write with my toes", she actually does so. This was filmed.
- Several staff members were cut out of the script before filming. Dr. Lange, a social studies teacher who dresses oddly, Andre a sociopathic Film Studies teacher, Brian a neurotic PE Teacher, Ed the mute cafeteria worker who shouldn't be at the school on a Saturday, and Robin, a gym teacher. Robin helps Vernon on a few workout machines until Vernon injures his back, and she eventually visits the students while they are in their circle in the library. Robin initially replaced many of Carl's scenes and Carl was originally set to be a minor character with only two scenes.
- John and Claire's kissing scene in the closet was shortened because Hughes felt that "screen kissing wears thin very quickly." Molly Ringwald described it as a "great kiss".
Soundtrack
- "Don't You (Forget About Me)
"Don't You " is a song known for its being in the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club and performed by the band Simple Minds in 1985. The songwriters were producer Keith Forsey "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a song known for its being in the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club and...
" – Simple MindsSimple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
- "Waiting" – E.G. Daily
- "Fire in the Twilight" – Wang Chung
Wang Chung are an English New Wave musical group.The group found their greatest success in America, with five Top 40 hits in the US, all charting between 1983 and 1987, including "Dance Hall Days" , "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Let's Go!" .-Pre-history: The Intellektuals and 57 Men :Jeremy...
- "I'm the Dude" (instrumental) – Keith Forsey
Keith Forsey is an English soundtrack composer, drummer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:Forsey's first recordings were as the younger member of the group The Spectrum, better known for the end title theme for Gerry Anderson's Captain Scarlet, but hit makers across Europe in their own...
- "Heart Too Hot to Hold" – Jesse Johnson
Jesse Woods Johnson is a musician best known as the guitarist in the original lineup of The Time....
, Stephanie Spruill
- "Dream Montage" (instrumental) – Gary Chang
- "We Are Not Alone" – Karla DeVito
Karla DeVito is an American singer, actress and voice artist.DeVito and her three brothers were raised by a very musical mother, Vivienne, who, when not working to support the family, was always singing at home...
- "Reggae" (instrumental) – Keith Forsey
Keith Forsey is an English soundtrack composer, drummer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:Forsey's first recordings were as the younger member of the group The Spectrum, better known for the end title theme for Gerry Anderson's Captain Scarlet, but hit makers across Europe in their own...
- "Didn't I Tell You?" – Joyce Kennedy
- "Love Theme" (instrumental) – Keith Forsey
Keith Forsey is an English soundtrack composer, drummer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:Forsey's first recordings were as the younger member of the group The Spectrum, better known for the end title theme for Gerry Anderson's Captain Scarlet, but hit makers across Europe in their own...
Tributes
In 2005
MTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
announced that the film would be rewarded with the Silver Bucket of Excellence Award in honor of its 20th anniversary at the
MTV Movie AwardsThe MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general...
. To coincide with the event, MTV attempted to reunite the original cast. Sheedy, Ringwald and Hall appeared together on stage, with Kapelos in the audience; Gleason personally gave the award to his former castmates. Estevez could not attend the reunion because of other commitments, and Nelson appeared earlier in the show but left before the on-stage reunion for reasons unknown, prompting Hall to joke that the two were "in Africa with
Dave ChappelleDavid Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
." Pop-punk band
YellowcardYellowcard is an American pop punk/alternative rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1997, and based in Los Angeles, California since 2000. Their music features the use of a violin, unusual for the genre...
performed a version of the movie's anthem, "Don't You Forget About Me." This show was taped on May 28, 2005, and aired on June 9.
At the
82nd Academy AwardsThe 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2009 and took place March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled well after...
Sheedy, Hall, Ringwald and Nelson all appeared in a tribute to John Hughes, along with other actors who had worked with Hughes including
Jon CryerJonathan Niven "Jon" Cryer is an American actor, screenwriter and film producer. He is the son of actress–singer Gretchen Cryer. He made his motion picture debut in the 1984 romantic comedy No Small Affair, but gained greater fame as "Duckie" in the 1986 John Hughes-scripted film Pretty in Pink...
from
Pretty in PinkPretty in Pink is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about teenage love and social cliques in 1980s American high schools. It is one of a group of John Hughes films starring Molly Ringwald, and is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film...
,
Matthew BroderickMatthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
from
Ferris Bueller's Day OffFerris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 American teen coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by John Hughes.The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller , who decides to skip school and spend the day in downtown Chicago...
, and
Macaulay CulkinMacaulay Carson Culkin is an American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster...
from
Home AloneHome Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy, who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation...
,
Home Alone 2: Lost in New YorkHome Alone 2: Lost in New York is a 1992 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. It is the second film in the Home Alone series and the direct sequel to Home Alone. The film stars Macaulay Culkin in the lead role as Kevin McCallister, while...
and
Uncle BuckUncle Buck is a 1989 John Hughes comedy film starring John Candy, Amy Madigan, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby Hoffman, and Macaulay Culkin, and co-stars Jay Underwood and Laurie Metcalf.-Plot:Bob Russell Uncle Buck is a 1989 John Hughes comedy film starring John Candy, Amy Madigan, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby...
.
Cultural impact
- The Breakfast Club was ranked No. 1 on Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.
- The character "Bender" in Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
is named after Judd Nelson's Breakfast Club character, John Bender. An LP record of the film's soundtrack appears in the Futurama episode "The Luck of the Fryrish"The Luck of the Fryrish" is the fourth episode in season three of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on March 11, 2001.-Plot:...
", and "Don't You (Forget About Me)"Don't You " is a song known for its being in the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club and performed by the band Simple Minds in 1985. The songwriters were producer Keith Forsey "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a song known for its being in the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club and...
" is played over the same episode's end credits.
- A JC Penney commercial aired on TV and in theaters beginning in June 2008 pays homage to the film. Several scenes are reenacted at a similar library by the commercial's actors, to the tune of a cover of "Don't You" by New Found Glory
New Found Glory is an American rock band from Coral Springs, Florida. Formed in the summer of 1997, founding members were lead vocalist Jordan Pundik, guitarists Chad Gilbert and Steve Klein, bassist Ian Grushka and drummer Joe Marino...
. The commercial shows a shot of the school with the name Shermer High School on the exterior of the building.
In popular culture
USA NetworkUSA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
's
PsychPsych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network. It stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts...
's season 3 episode 2, "Murder? … Anyone? … Anyone? … Bueller?" references The Breakfast Club in several ways. Shawn (
James RodayJames Roday is an American actor and screenwriter. He currently stars on the USA Network series Psych as hyper-observant consultant detective and fake psychic Shawn Spencer.-Personal life:...
) has a picture of Judd Nelson as his photo nametag for the class reunion; he imitates several of the dance moves from the movie in a rooftop scene; and the episode ends with Gus (
Dule HillKarim Dulé Hill is an American actor and tap dancer. He is best known for his roles as personal presidential aide Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series The West Wing, and as pharmaceutical salesman-private detective Burton "Gus" Guster on the USA Network television comedy-drama Psych...
) giving a speech narration very similar to Anthony Michael Hall's in The Breakfast Club, including a final freeze shot of Shawn fist-pumping on a football field, wearing a trenchcoat.
In episode 2.5, "And Down the Stretch Comes Murder," Henry Spencer (
Corbin BernsenCorbin Dean Bernsen is an American actor and director, known for his work on television. He is best known for his roles as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series L.A. Law, and as retired police detective Henry Spencer on the USA Network comedy-drama series Psych...
) and his friend both wear overly-loud 'lucky' shirts to a horse race, and Shawn declares, "I think your shirt, and his shirt, should get together and go bowling," the same comment Judd Nelson makes of his and Emilio Estevez' character's fathers.
The Degrassi: The Next Generation episode called "Take Me On" features a Saturday Detention with a similar situation as seen in the breakfast club.
In the
Simpsons season 23; episode 2"Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts" is the second episode of the twenty-third season of the animated comedy series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 2, 2011. The episode was the first to feature Superintendent Chalmers as the central character and...
, Breakfast Club was referred.
Abed in the "Pilot" episode of Community refers to the group as something similar to the group in "Breakfast Club."
An upcoming episode of
VictoriousVictorious is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around aspiring singer Tori Vega , a teenager who attends a performing arts high school called Hollywood Arts High School, after taking her older sister Trina's place in a showcase while getting into...
has been confirmed to be based on
The Breakfast Club.
In "Dawson's Creek". on first season, there is an episode, "detention", which is strongly based on the movie
In the first episode of NBC Cult hit show Community Abed refers to the main cast to be like the Breakfast Club movie,and Later on he even reenact a line from the breakfast club
External links