I’m constantly being bombarded by people telling him “you haven’t seen ____? You gotta check it out.” Or hearing critics rave “this movie is a classic, a must see.” So I decided that from now on every time he actually watches one of these flicks, I’ll write my take on whether the film will live up to the hype or fall short.

So, what’s the deal with The Breakfast Club?

I had seen portions of The Breakfast Club numerous times on television. I usually caught the opening scenes where Principal Vernon is giving the kids his speech or the end of the movie when their day is finishing. This left out most of the meat of the story and didn’t give me a real idea of the depth of topic The Breakfast Club offered.

The middle of the movie offers some of the best movie dialogue in a coming of age movie. All of the characters are relatable in some way and the movie doesn’t shy away from presenting them in positive and negative lights. This makes them seem very real while you watch the film. The writing is very well done and occasionally intense. Even though the movie essentially takes place in one area, there is so much happening in the story that you never lose interest.

The movie touches topics that get pretty real. Bender (played by Judd Nelson) talks about his home life very openly a few times in the film. Watching the movie, it never becomes disturbing, but I could see myself feeling weird if I were actually in the room with his character.

Also, what’s the deal with the dance scene? Its a very 80’s dance sequence. And it all seems very normal until Emilio Estevez does his number. I suppose John Hughes wanted to demonstrate that all the characters were able to relax and set aside their differences to have some fun. That definitely comes across in the scene, but Emilio’s power fist breaking a glass door is the best part.

All in all, its easy to see why this movie is so highly regarded. If I had seen this movie when I was growing up, I could see it resonating with me through my teens. It doesn’t seem to lose any potency watching it now, but this is definitely one movie I wish I had seen earlier.