The Breakfast Club

John Hughes wrote and directed this quintessential 1980s high school drama featuring the hottest young stars of the decade. Trapped in a day-long Saturday detention in a prison-like school library are Claire, the princess ( Molly Ringwald ); Andrew, the jock ( Emilio Estevez ); John, the criminal ( Judd Nelson ); Brian, the brain ( Anthony Michael Hall ); and Allison, the basket case ( Ally Sheedy ). These five strangers begin the day with nothing in common, each bound to his/her place in the high school caste system. Yet the students bond together when faced with the villainous principal ( Paul Gleason ), and they realize that they have more in common than they may think, including a contempt for adult society. "When you grow up, your heart dies," Allison proclaims in one of the film's many scenes of soul-searching, and, judging from the adults depicted in the film, the teen audience may very well agree. Released in a decade overflowing with derivative teen films, The Breakfast Club has developed an almost cult-like status, and it has become a classic of the genre thanks to its band of talented stars and attempt to examine the stereotypes found in American high schools. — Dylan Wilcox