31 - "The Breakfast Club" (1985)

     It's amazing what we can learn about people when we take the time to talk and get to know each other. But we spend too much time placing people we see or meet in a certain stereotype. This is never more true than when we are teenagers trying to survive the doldrums of high school. The Breakfast Club focuses on five high school kids who are forced to spend a Saturday in detention together. From the get-go, they (and we as the audience) place each other according to their stereotypes: a jock, a princess, a criminal, a brain, and a basket case. By the end of the day, these five kids will have learned a lot about each other and about judging people based on first impressions. Directed by John Hughes, The Breakfast Club is probably the crown jewel in the 80's-teen genre. It helps when you have five young stars who bring so much talent to the screen at such a young age. Looking back, I can't imagine any one replacing Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald or Ally Sheedy in their respective roles. Each gives a standout performance and by the end of the film, we feel like we know so much about their characters. In fact, we may BE their characters. I definitely associate myself with the Anthony Michael Hall role, especially when I was in high school. A lot of people have described this movie as "teenagers giving the middle finger to adults". I don't agree. I think it's more "teenagers just wanting adults to listen to them".