Review of The Breakfast Club (1985) by Daniel D — 24 Aug 2015

This is the one John Hughes teen movie that really works for me. It works for me despite the fact that there's more than a few things about it that really aren't very good. The last section of the movie is overly serious, somewhat disjointed in it's construction and really suffers from Paul Gleason fading into the background.

Some of the dialogue in this section is painful ("When you grow up your heart dies"?) and the characters tend to launch into awkward monologues that are way too on the nose. In a way, it's a perfect film for teenagers, and that's probably why it still works for me.

I was 16 when I first saw it, and it was perfectly designed for me at the time. I give it a lot of credit despite its flaws.