History Film / TheBreakfastClub

* DrinkOrder:
** Playing the trope as straight as can be, all five characters have Coke with their lunch.
** They also have a variation of the trope — their lunches represent their parents (who packed them) as much as it does the kids. Claire has expensive Japanese food that working-class Bender has never even heard of; Andy has a massive lunch loaded with carbs; Brian has a typical "mama's boy" lunch complete with crustless PB&J; Allison has two slices of white bread and a single piece of bologna, which she ditches to make a Pixy Stix and Cap'n Crunch sandwich on Wonder Bread; and Bender, who neither brought a lunch or was made one by his parents, makes out like he's going to forcibly share Brian's, although he doesn't in the end.

* AllStereotypeCast: Deconstructed. Each of the students in detention fulfills a high school stereotype of TheEighties: specifically, jocks, brainiacs, princesses, criminals, and basket cases -- and yet is about showing how they're much more than those stereotypes, what [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype what kinds of background would turn someone into these stereotypes, and how these societal expectations affect them as people]].

* ColdReading: Allison reveals details about Brian which look like she is a psychic. Then she reveals that she just went through his wallet.

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Of all the teen movies to come out of the 80's, this was the one that ultimately defined the era and blazed the trail which, along with ''Film/SixteenCandles'', would lead to the true formation of the Creator/BratPack. ''The Breakfast Club'' follows the journey of [[FourTemperamentEnsemble five teenagers]] who have all landed themselves [[DetentionEpisode a Saturday detention]]. The main characters are characterized by their cliques, harassed by angry principal Richard "Dick" Vernon, and aided by Carl, the friendly neighborhood janitor.

** The first time Brian actually becomes ''very'' angry throughout detention is when Claire tells him he doesn't know what it's like to feel pressure.

* CrazyConsumption: Allison lets her soda spill out, and licks it off the table. Then she throws away the bologna from her sandwich, and replaces it with Pixy Stix (powdered candy) and Cap'n Crunch cereal.

** Brian is an anagram of brain.

* NoAntagonist: While the characters' parents are the main reason why each of them are screwed-up and Principal Vernon isn't exactly nice to them (especially Bender), the true conflict of the story is what the kids struggle with in their personal life, school life, and whatever their life will be like in the future.

* SuckySchool: Eight hour detentions on Saturday is just one of the many things wrong here, never mind the principal.

* BreakfastClub / BreakfastPlot: The point of the movie is that they all learn they have much more in common with each other than they think, and are much more capable of being friends and understanding each other than they knew.

* BreakfastClub: The point of the movie is that they all learn they have much more in common with each other than they think, and are much more capable of being friends and understanding each other than they knew.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Andy repeatedly tries to ask Allison why she's in detention while they're getting drinks for the group. She isn't phased, and turns the same question back on him, to which Andy tellingly is unable to answer.

* RealityEnsues: The shot of Bender crawling atop a drop ceiling will make anybody familiar with construction or engineering groan a bit, [[ArtisticLiscenseEngineering another example of that cliche]]... then he falls right through it.

''The Breakfast Club'' was a 1985 film written and directed by Creator/JohnHughes, a legend in the teen genre. The five principal actors in the film (Creator/MollyRingwald, Creator/AnthonyMichaelHall, Creator/EmilioEstevez, Creator/JuddNelson and Ally Sheedy) became part of the "Creator/BratPack", a group of actors whose careers in the 1980s revolved around playing teens in popular movies with each other. This group also included Rob Lowe, Andrew [=McCarthy=] and Creator/DemiMoore.

''The Breakfast Club'' was a 1985 film written and directed by Creator/JohnHughes, a legend in the teen genre. The five principal actors in the film (Creator/MollyRingwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez, Creator/JuddNelson and Ally Sheedy) became part of the "Creator/BratPack", a group of actors whose careers in the 1980s revolved around playing teens in popular movies with each other. This group also included Rob Lowe, Andrew [=McCarthy=] and Creator/DemiMoore.

* BottleEpisode: Movie example. Every single hijink that the kids partake in is permanently set within Shermer High.

--> '''Brian:''' I'm in the Math Club, the Latin Club, and the Physics Club.
--> '''Bender:''' (to Claire) Hey. Cherry. Do you belong to the Physics Club?
--> '''Claire:''' That's an Academics club.
--> '''Bender:''' So?
--> '''Claire:''' (beat) Academic Clubs aren't the same as other kinds of clubs.
--> '''Bender:''' Ah, but to dorks like him, they are.

---> '''Claire:''' You shouldn't have said that.
---> '''Andy:''' How was I supposed to know? He lies about everything anyway!

* ShopClass: Brian takes it because he thinks it'll be an easy "A". That didn't turn out to be the case, however.
** Bender wastes no time in demanding why Brian would think shop would be an easy "A"

* SlapSlapKiss: Claire and Bender.
** Literally. She slaps him on the back after he crawls out from under her desk, and [[spoiler: later she kisses him in the closet, and let's not forget their kiss in the final scene]].

* UptownGirl: Rich spoiled princess Claire falls for [[spoiler: troubled delinquent Bender at the end]].

* RealityEnsues: The shot of Bender crawling atop a drop ceiling will make anybody familiar with construction or engineering groan a bit, [[YouFailEngineeringForever another example of that cliche]]... then he falls right through it.

** Vernon also has one where he finally reaches his breaking point with Bender, points out that they are all alone, takes off his jacket, and tells Bender they're going to fight. It's clear Bender knows he's not a match for Vernon physically, but what really sells the scene is the stricken expression on his face when Vernon says he'll kick the shit out of him and just tell everyone Bender attacked him. It's plain that Vernon has really driven home the fact that Bender ultimately has no one to blame but himself for being a person that everyone is willing to believe the worst of.

* AllStereotypeCast: Deconstructed. Each of the students in detention fulfills a high school stereotype of TheEighties: specifically, jocks, brainiacs, princesses, criminals, and basket cases -- and yet is about showing how they're much more than those stereotypes.

* DeconstructedTrope: This film takes a very good look at what many of the "stock" characters of teen movies would be like if they existed in real life, and what their real motivations would be like.

** Andy, the JerkJock, only [[JerkassFacade behaves that way]] in order to fit in with the rest of the team and to impress his father, who raised him on stories of how he acted like that back when he was in school. He wishes that, one day, he'd get injured so that he wouldn't have to wrestle again, and thus never have to worry about [[WellDoneSonGuy living up to Dad's expectations]].

* ShaveAndAHairCut: Masterfully improvised by Andy and Bender when Bender is hiding under Claire's desk and bumps his head.

** Carl himself is an interesting variant. He was once the Man of the Year in 1969, and had aspirations of being "John Lennon", implying he wanted to be a musician. He's now working a wage-slave job as a janitor at the very high school he graduated. Unlike Vernon, however, he actually displays a stronger work ethic and doesn't pass judgment on the kids.

One of the most defining teen movies, it came to represent the genre and launch the careers of its stars, leading to the Creator/BratPack. ''The Breakfast Club'' follows the journey of [[FourTemperamentEnsemble five teenagers]] who have all landed themselves [[DetentionEpisode a Saturday detention]]. The main characters are characterized by their cliques, harassed by angry principal Richard "Dick" Vernon, and aided by Carl, the friendly neighborhood janitor.

* NoodleIncident: We are never shown anyone turning the hands of the clock forward, just that Carl notices that someone (most likely Bender) has done it, as he casually mentions the clock is 20 minutes fast.
** The collective groans of the group, however, might indicate that Bender didn't do it - at least not that day, or the others would have seen him.

* RealityEnsues: The shot of Bender crawling atop a drop ceiling will make anybody familiar with construction or engineering groan a bit, [[YouFailEngineeringForever another example of that cliche]]...[[CrowningMomentOfFunny then he falls right through it.]]

* WeNeedADistraction:
** Bender's presence in the library getting hidden from Vernon by the other kids via redirecting questions and odd noises.
*** Later in the same scene, a group coughing fit is used after Claire squeezes Bender's head under the desk, making him cry out. Just as well, really, as Bender continues to make noise ''through'' the coughing, possibly because he's mad, possibly because Claire is kicking him.
** Earlier, Bender provides a distraction so the rest of the group can get back to the library without Vernon noticing them.
*** Includes him shouting/singing "I WANNA BE AN AIR-FORCE RANGER..." running through the school, ripping posters off walls, and "trying out for a scholarship" in the gymnasium. These antics are what lead him to getting locked in the closet, which eventually leads to the second set of necessary distractions.

* ReCut: Creator/JohnHughes' original version was 2 1/2 hours long. Both his widow and Ally Sheedy have confirmed that it exists, but no-one knows what happened to it. More details [[http://lostmediawiki.com/The_Breakfast_Club_cut_content_(lost_scenes;_1984) here]].

* ForWantOfANail: Had the trunk on his elephant lamp worked, Brian wouldn't be in detention.

* RuleOfSymbolism: This film is almost entirely dialogue. It takes place in a Library. Libraries are collections of words - just like dialogue. But you won't perceive any of the words in a library unless you seek them out - like the character's thoughts.

* SpeechCentricWork: For the majority of the running time it's just the five characters sitting around talking.

* TheAntiNihilist: More or less the movie's general philosophy.

* BlackComedy: The film's bread and butter.

* AbusiveParents: [[HumansAreBastards Depressingly common]]. Bender's father is the "traditionally" abusive dad who beats his wife and son, [[EducationMama Brian's parents set such high standards]] that it drives him [[spoiler: to potentially [[DrivenToSuicide attempt suicide]] (or [[AxesAtSchool whatever else he had planned]]) with the FlareGun]], [[ParentalNeglect Allison's]] completely ignore her, [[ParentalNeglect Claire's]] are on the verge of divorce and use her to get back at each other, and [[StageMom Andy's father tells him that winning is everything]] and that if he doesn't win, he's nothing.