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He was the middle-aged filmmaker who seemed to know teenagers
of the 1980s in and out and the results were in some of the
bravura and eternal comedies he did, most notably, 1985's
The Breakfast Club.
Essentially a one-set film with six key characters –
one being the unforgettable teacher, played by Paul Gleason
– the latter tells the story of a bunch of students,
all pretty much strangers and all pretty much chalk and cheese
(one’s a jock, one’s a geek, one’s a rebel,
one’s a recluse, one’s a future prom-queen), who
are forced to do Saturday detention together.
By the end of the day, they’ve all spilled their guts,
all befriended each other and come up with an affectionate
nickname for their detention troupe: The Breakfast Club.
In addition to the writing, it’s the performances that
also make the movie – Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Anthony
Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald. It’s some
of their earliest work, but it’s some of their best work.
Funny, sad, uplifting and ultimately memorable … it’s
likely to go down in history as one of the best films of my,
heck any, generation.
Anthony Michael Hall, the self-confessed geek of The Breakfast
Club, was Hughes’ muse there for a while. He headlined
the inferior but amusing Weird Science – about
a couple of young school geeks, of course, that invent a beautiful
woman on their computer - for Hughes a year later, and with
Molly Ringwald (another of Hughes’s discoveries) who
co-starred in the legendary Sixteen Candles.
Filmed a year before Breakfast, Sixteen Candles
was essentially your typical highschool teen comedy meshed
with some of the most memorable characters and most inspired
writing this side of the Canberra War memorial. Hall was the
atypical geek; Ringwald was the object of his affection, and
Michael Schoeffling (whatever happened to him?) was the all-round
Mr.Popular who she wanted to snuggle up to.
All three films are available in the 'John Hughes Collection,'
and though Weird Science could easily have been omitted
for say, Ferris Buellers Day Off or Pretty in Pink,
two much better Hughes efforts, it’s an advisable buy
– especially for those that have never experienced the
magic of Mr Hughes.
DVD Extras
Sadly – and despite the fact there’s supposed
to be a heap of deleted scenes from The Breakfast Club
somewhere – there’s no extras on any of the discs.
Conclusion: Movie 85% Extras: -10%
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