Disappointing
This movie has a big reputation as an 80's teen flick, but I was wholly disappointed. Most of the discussions between the five students from different cliques -- the popular girl, the jock, the Brainiac nerd, the dope-smoking rebel and the neurotic misfit -- come across contrived and unconvincing. Some of the dialogue is actually cringe-inducing.
The hoodlum (Judd Nelson) could've worked as a character, like the Fonz or Vinnie Barbarino, but he's such an annoying, loud-mouthed jerk that he loses all sympathy, particularly when he verbally rapes the redhead on multiple occasions for no ostensible reason. The fact that the two end up together at the end adds insult to injury. Not to mention two others that unrealistically couple up.
It's strange that "The Breakfast Club" is billed as a comedy because there's very little that's funny, although it's occasionally entertaining, like some of the music sequences. Unfortunately, writer/director John Hughes wasn't into the heavier side of rock and so the soundtrack consists solely of bland 80's new wave bands, like his other 80's teen flicks (e.g. “Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”). Don't get me wrong, there are a couple of quality songs, like “We Are Not Alone” by Karla DeVito, but where are the heavier popular bands of 1984, like Van Halen, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Ratt, Dokken, Queensryche, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Twisted Sister or Motley Crue? Is it asking too much to have ONE song that actually rocks?
But the music is the least of the movie's problems (and isn’t really a problem at all, except that there aren't any heavy tracks). The actors are fine, but Hughes' dialogue is unconvincing. The script needed a serious rewrite.