As much as things have changed over the past couple of decades one thing that remains the same is the high quality of moves that were made in the 80’s. I occasionally like to travel back to that era by remembering some of the cinematic masterpieces, or at least good films.

Do any of these lines ring a bell of familiarity?…

“How do you think he rides a bike?”

“You’re an idiot anyway. But if you said you get along with your parents, well, you’re a liar too.”

“Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?”

All are from the 1985 classic, ‘The Breakfast Club,’ directed by John Hughes and starring members of the group known as the Brat Pack; Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall and Emilio Estevez.

A major strength of the film is how truly it depicts high school life, which Hughes was able to do in his many teen aged based films such as ‘Sixteen Candles’ and ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” But never better than in ‘The Breakfast Club.’ Now more than twenty years after its initial release every high school across this great land is still divided by brains, athletes, basket cases, princesses and criminals. Human nature has not changed.  
As if you didn’t know, you have seen it, right??? The movie is about a group of five students forced to spend a Saturday together in detention and end up not only learning a lot about themselves but also each other.  At first they are viewed as their stereotype, and follow societal rules by not getting along but eventually discover that they aren’t so different from each other.

The only stretch of realism is the limited amount of supervision the students are given. Other than the principal, played by Paul Gleason, who sits in his office across the hall they are left totally alone. Granted it would be a very boring movie if they were heavily watched over and unable to communicate, instead they were free to create a ruckus and even smoke a bag of marijuana. It was basically a big party, no wonder Judd Nelson’s character, Bender, books himself for about two months straight.

Though it contains no high budget explosions or even any female nudity, I’ve always believed one of the all time great scenes in cinema is when the five of them are sitting in a circle and tell each other what they did to be there that day. It’s made great by the dialogue alone and the comedy and drama contained within. It also serves as a commentary on society, as even after high school we still wonder about the perceptions of ourselves and what others think of who we associate with. The scene which was ad libbed is also the crux of the movie as its when they all realize that despite their differences and categorized labels they are also all the same. In each of them is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.

For a class reunion, let’s catch up with ’The Breakfast Club.’

Molly Ringwald (Claire) - A leading lady in a number of Hughes films in the 80’s,  she then took a break from the public eye and recently returned to star in the television drama, ‘The Secret Life of the American Teenager.’ Ringwald is married, with three children, including a set of twins she delivered in 2009.

Judd Nelson (Bender) - He’s excellent in role of the troublemaker Bender, but was never able to really move on to anything else. His other most notable role was on the sitcom, ’Suddenly Susan,’ with Brooke Shields, (1996-2000.)

Emilio Estevez (Andrew Clark) - Is perhaps best known as being the son to Martin Sheen, and brother to Charlie. His other most notable film role was as the coach in ‘The Mighty Ducks.’ He currently works more behind the camera than in front of it, as he has directed for television and some independent movies. Was married for a time to Paula Abdul.

Anthony Michael Hall (Brian) Appeared in many movies in the 80’s, often as the geeky teen. In ‘The Breakfast Club’ he is dropped off in the beginning of the movie by his real life mother and younger sister. He returned to the spotlight as star of the USA drams ‘Dead Zone’ which aired from 2002-2007. Most recently appeared in ‘The Dark Knight.’

Ally Sheedy (Allison) - Her career has since been rather quite, as was her character in the film, who is remembered by shaking dandruff out of her hair to create the image of snow coming down onto a picture. In the 90’s she appeared in some television movies and reunited with Anthony Michael Hall for an episode of ‘The Dead Zone.’

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