Breakfast Club: Turns Out Detention Is Group Therapy With Lockers

Five students walk into a library carrying labels — brain, athlete, basket case, princess, criminal — and walk out carrying each other’s truths. We dive into why The Breakfast Club still feels urgent, not retro, and how John Hughes turns a one-room setup into a humane x-ray of status, pressure, and belonging.

We start with expectations vs reality: the film delays the “what are you in for?” reveal to earn trust, using dialogue to peel back armor and invite empathy. From Bender’s relentless needling to Brian’s brittle perfectionism, we unpack how each character projects pain into performance. The adult world isn’t a safety net either; the principal’s brittle authority crashes into the janitor’s cool honesty, exposing how insecurity scales with age. That exchange, “I wouldn’t count on it,” hits like a thesis about power, fear, and who we become after high school.

Then we zoom out to the filmmaking. Hughes builds like a playwright, anchoring tension in one space and letting body language do as much work as lines. We trace the casting near-misses, the Brat Pack label’s messy origin, and the rehearsal-first approach that let the actors improvise in character. The soundtrack becomes narrative glue: Don’t You Forget About Me threads through scenes as both memory and manifesto, while Fire in the Twilight makes the hallway escape pulse with urgency. Even the makeover debate opens a live question about agency and authenticity: is transformation betrayal or connection when it’s chosen, seen, and respected?

Ratings differ — nostalgia and pacing collide — but the core holds: the movie is timeless because anxiety is. Achievement pressure, parental expectation, social rank, the need to be liked even when you pretend not to care — none of that belongs to a single decade. That’s why the “Who are we on Monday?” question lingers long after the credits and that fist pump. If this conversation resonates, tap follow, leave a 5-star review to help others find the show, and text us your movie picks using the link in our description. What label did you carry, and who helped you set it down?

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Transcript

Welcome And Episode Setup

Joe 0:00

He had they had like the fancy nice tapes and you know with the good sh with the good covers and everything. Yeah, like I used to collect those. Welcome to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast, where every movie is a premiere.

Why The Breakfast Club Matters

Dylan 0:33

This week we're talking about one of the most iconic teen movies of all time. And while Joe grow up with The Breakfast Club, I'm walking into Saturday school for the very first time. Stereotypes vulnerability in a movie that still sparks debate decades later.

Joe 0:50

This week's movie, The Breakfast Club, 1985, is rated R for strong language, sexual references, and teen truck use. I thought that said preferences.

Dylan 1:12

Oh man. Came out in 85, huh?

Joe 1:16

Yeah, 1985.

Dylan 1:19

So what what was what was the what was it like when it first came out?

Joe 1:24

Well, it was back in the war. Uh well, Back to the Future came out in 1985. And uh there are quite a few kind of blockbuster hits at the time too. Yeah. There was, you know, it's kind of like in the middle of uh synthpop new wave, and that whole culture of of music.

First Impressions And Core Theme

Dylan 1:48

Um Back to the Future didn't really stay stay in that time a whole lot, you know. Yeah, right. Yeah. They kind of jumped around in that movie. Right. Written and directed by John Hughes. So what have we watched so far that he's directed there?

Joe 2:06

Uh Home Alone, Planes Trains Automobiles. To name a few.

Dylan 2:12

To name a few. Okay.

Joe 2:15

This is basically his second big movie. He had he had written a couple other ones, um National Lampoons Vacation, Mr. Mom, um, and then uh uh Pretty in Pink, and then it was Breakfast Club.

Dylan 2:32

So is National Lampoons kind of his first big hit then?

Joe 2:37

Writing wise, there was another director for it, but he wrote those two.

Dylan 2:41

Gotcha. Because I guess for from the ones that we have watched so far, or I have watched so far, yeah. It like I feel like it really stands out from the back.

Joe 2:52

Uh-huh.

Dylan 2:53

Very different than the others.

Joe 2:57

That this one does? Breakfast Club. Yeah. Yeah. And that's why I wanted to get to it because it the way the way we've watched them, it it's really eclectic. But but this was like the kind of the break like not breaking point, but the the kickoff to his like teen movie. Yeah.

Dylan 3:21

Um, you know, the the make it or break it. Yeah. Yeah. Five high school students from different cliques spent a Saturday in detention and slowly discover they're more alike than different. Um, I think for initial take on it all, I liked the way that there was kind of fighting between them, uh-huh. Kind of for the first half of the movie, and then they do kind of come to realize, oh, wait a minute, like we're you know, from all different walks, but they kind of have some some of the same core values, if you will.

Joe 4:04

Yeah. And struggles. Right. Yeah. Umtly it creeps up and and kind of happens more and more, but like when they when they subtly cover for each other, you know, and they're like, it's almost territorial because whenever um the principal walks in, it's kind of like this is our space. Yeah.

Dylan 4:27

This has become our yeah. I think also with planes, trains, um, similar to this one, like it's very, very dialogue driven. Yeah. More than you kind of expect at first. Um, because I was more I I went into it pretty much completely blind, had no idea what was going to happen.

Joe 4:53

Yeah.

Dylan 4:54

So um I didn't really know like if there was gonna be a lot of running around being crazy in the school while the you know principal is doing who knows what. Yeah. Having a beer in the basement. Right. Yeah, yeah.

Joe 5:12

Yeah. Was that from like trailers or anything, or was it just kind of just general assumption?

Dialogue Over Action

Dylan 5:18

Yeah. Kid, you know, I guess I I kind of go through the stereotype of, you know, a bunch of kids in detention, then uh, you know, yeah, yeah. Yeah. They're they're gonna be the troublemakers and yeah. So I I thought it was kind of uh it surprised me how far through the movie it was until they all like, what are you in for?

Joe 5:43

Yeah, you know. Uh-huh. I think the way it unfolded was cool because there's little there's little gives on what those things were, yeah, but they didn't really give the full story. Like um when Andrew and Alison are walking through the hallway, she asks, and he he basically kind of makes up a you know, kind of a band-aid story, like just to give kind of face, say face, you know, and and there it's like by the end the masks come off. Right. Yeah.

Dylan 6:20

Because they're all friends at the end.

Joe 6:22

Right. Are they? What happened on Monday morning?

Dylan 6:27

Right. So for you, like re-watching it so many times, like what is what is that like? How does the story change now that you're kind of an adult and kind of looking back on it there?

Masks Off And Monday Question

Teen Dreams Versus Adult Reality

Sociology, Cliques, And Resonance

Joe 6:41

Yeah. Um you really see the problems that that change throughout the course of life. Yeah. And you have the kids in Saturday school detention, and then you have the principal and the janitor, you know, and so and their lives are completely changed. Um, and so it's it's interesting to see, like, okay, um Carl uh is talking to the principal, and principal asks him, like, what did you want to be when you're you know, when you're growing up, and he said John Lennon. And he was serious. He was like, you know, I I wanted to be John Lennon, and I think like for a lot of kids, they want to get out and make it big, or you know, everybody has a certain idea in mind of what they want to do after. Um Andrew was like, I'm gonna be a pro wrestler, or I'm gonna maybe go to the Olympics, you know, and Brian had his, you know, physics and math and all that, and you know, um his clubs, yeah, yeah. And uh, and so so everybody has that perspective, and so then when you get out and get into the quote unquote real world, you know, that out of that shell, it's like whoa, life is hitting you, and then you just have to make decisions based on where you are, right? You know, so it's just it's just crazy. Um for me, watching it again too, um one of one of the favorite classes, if you could get it, was uh sociology in high school, and that was because you got to watch The Breakfast Club. Oh and so it was you know, even though it was fun to watch The Breakfast Club, we we discussed it in sociology and talked about all the different clicks and you know, the different people and how they're set up, and yeah, you know, so we still learned something, right?

Dylan 8:51

That is the idea, yeah. What was it like the first time seeing it?

Joe 8:55

I can't even remember. It was just it's one of those movies that I've seen so much that I can't even remember the first time because it just it's just I mean, it's one of those movies I've probably watched once a year. It's just yeah, yeah.

Dylan 9:11

Do you have a character that you feel like resonates with you? Or even at the at the time?

Joe 9:18

Yeah. Um, I think I thought I was a John Bender when I was in school. Yeah. There was it was funny because when I actually had to do Saturday school, um I was that kind of kid. I got suspended a lot, got in fights, uh, and all that kind of stuff. And I think it was the same the same Saturday school when I got in the fight that I actually dressed like him without people knowing it.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Of course you did. Yeah.

Joe 9:51

And I remember my mom's like, like, it's it's not even cold. Why do you want that big coat? And I was like, just cuz, you know. Cause I'm cool. Yeah. But it's funny because when you have a a Hispanic kid that dresses like John Bender, you come off more of like a cholo gangster kind of thing. Oops. Yeah, yeah. But I had the long hair to go with it, so yeah, yeah. And uh it was not because it was my first time, it was not what the movie was like at all. Like yeah, I had to go out. Well, there was an option, it was like do homework or some other stuff that they came up with, or go out and and like clean leaves and help out. And I just went and helped out because I was like, I'm gonna get out of this room.

Pressure, Parents, And Identity

Dylan 10:40

Yeah. Man, I would say that I probably resonate most probably with Andrew. Kind of the the the pressure and expectations yeah put upon you by you know the parentals in your life, or you know, guardians, whatever.

Joe 11:01

Yeah. I think that's the common the common theme with them, you know. It's like I think everybody had it differently. And even though um you know Brian's home was di different and it was all about studying and it was all about that stuff, there's just the pressures that a kid has. Right.

Dylan 11:24

You know, and it's just yeah, because your parent is wanting the best for you, and yeah. But I you know, as a kid or you know, teenager at that age, you're like, what would it do? This is dumb.

Joe 11:38

Yeah. Yeah. Um I w I didn't necessarily say I didn't necessarily grow up with that um from my parents. Yeah. But I got it from I have an uncle who kind of was our like basically if you got in trouble, you went to him. Yeah. And and um, you know, his dad was a minister and and he uh kind of built businesses and stuff like that. So he really knew like and he came from a harder background as well. So he really knew, like, you know, like Joey, if you don't do this, that's what they call me in family. If you don't do this, then this is gonna happen, you know. Yeah, and uh he was just one of the smartest guys around. And my friend who would talk to him sometimes, he's like, I don't even care. Like, whenever I talk to him, um I feel inspired to do stuff, I don't even know what, you know. So he was that he's that kind of guy, and so the pressure from him was more kind of what I got from some of my favorite teachers, yeah. Where they talked to you as a young adult. Um, they didn't like you know uh sugarcoat it or anything like that. It was just like this is reality, and if you don't take it, this is what's gonna happen. Right, you know, where like the principal in the movie goes too far with it. Oh yeah, right.

Casting What-Ifs And Brat Pack Roots

Dylan 13:19

Yeah, I think I think saying he goes too far with it is kind of an understatement. Yeah, and I think some of that comes from insecurity, you know, right well and like he still wants the the kids to like him. Right. Whether he whether he realizes that or not, yeah, you know, it's still there.

Joe 13:45

Yeah, it's it's one of those things that you say you don't care, but you actually do. Right.

Dylan 13:51

And the janitor did does kind of call that out though. Oh yeah, you know, that's so yeah, that'll go in favorite lines. Yeah.

Joe 14:01

So Emilio Estevez plays Andrew. Um, and so he was originally going to be John Bender. He was up for the part of John Bender. Oh, really? Yeah. Um, so Emilo Estevez has a long line of, you know, maybe not a long line, but his dad was a famous actor, and his dad's name is Martin Sheen.

Dylan 14:25

Yeah.

Joe 14:25

And his brother is Charlie Sheen, which you know, uh, what is it, two and a half men to you know, hot shots to, you know, um so you can just ramble out any movie, and I'd agree with you.

Dylan 14:40

Right, right. Oh yeah, okay, okay.

Makeover Debate And Character Bonds

Joe 14:45

Top gun uh no, um, and so when he got to acting, um he talked to his dad about it, and he his dad actually encouraged him to keep his actual name. Yeah, because his dad going into acting had to change his name, kind of like um when we talked about with Charlie Brown, like there's a lot of stereotypes and a lot of things for Hispanics. So instead of going out as uh Martin Esteves, um, he changed it to Sheen, and then when Charlie started acting, he used the same name and Emilio wanted to make it on his own, yeah, and be his own person and stuff like that, so he kept Estevez, and people would get confused because they'd see his head shot and be like, ah, we don't know what to do with this. Oh, really? Um but yeah, his last couple movies before that, he had done uh one called Repo Man, which is pretty like cult classic. Okay, uh, and then Outsiders, which we'll get to. Uh, another Francis Ford Coppola movie. Um, just he in Outsiders, he was just amazing. I mean, he's amazing in this, but it's just like there's so many actors in that movie that you don't know who to watch because everybody steals a scene. Oh yeah. So yeah, I mean that yeah. So he was known from that. Um, and you know, John Hughes is our had already had him in mind for a part. Um, and and so he, you know, he he was cast, it was just a matter of what he was gonna do. Um then Molly Ringwald. Um, so she was a child actress. She was in the West Coast production of Annie on Broadway in the 70s. She was on a TV show called The Facts of Life for the first season. Um, and John Hughes was going through a pile of headshots and actresses and stuff, and came across her photo and decided to write um the previous movie Sixteen Candles, with with like her as the inspiration for the not even meeting her, not ever hearing what she sounded like. It's just like I'm gonna write like as if this girl was the main character. And so then when it came to casting Sixteen Candles, he requested to have her come and audition and she got it. And gotcha. Uh Anthony Michael Hall was in that one as well, which is Brian. Uh, and so then when it came to uh casting um Breakfast Club, um he had had her in mind for uh Allison actually. So originally Molly Greenwald was gonna be Allison, Allie Sheedy was gonna be Claire, and I think her original name was like Carol or something like that. Oh, yeah, so it was gonna be like opposite from yeah, yeah, right. And uh they both felt that they wanted to be the other character.

Dylan 17:55

Oh, really?

Soundtrack Deep Dive

Joe 17:56

And John Hughes told Molly Ringwall, okay, you gotta make your case, you gotta tell me why, you gotta tell me, you know, yeah, and she did. She was like, This is why, like, I'm gonna be the opposite of my previous character from Sixteen Candles, and uh, you know, and so she made her case, and Allie Sheed was like, I am Allison, like this is who I am, like I'm basically gonna be me. Um so then John Nelson, uh he as bender, as bender, um he approached it like via method acting, yeah. And so when he went to the audition, he showed up fun one too. Oh yeah, oh yeah. I know he had a lot of fun um just reading the hijinks he went through. Um, but he showed up in those clothes, the same clothes that he's in. Yeah, with like the boots and the you know, the scarf around the boots and all that kind of stuff. Um they were gonna they were like on the the edge of calling security when they called his name.

Dylan 18:59

Oh really? Yeah. They're like, this one might cause trouble.

Joe 19:04

Yeah, they're like, I don't know that he, you know, is this his first time, whatever? Wow. Um, but he actually went to a prep school. And so he so he had to actually go to a uh a school in Chicago and go and fit in and pose as a like he they basically like went to the principal's office, said, Hey, I'm trying to trying to get this role. I wanna I want to just pretend I'm a student here for a while.

Dylan 19:29

Yeah, so he like went and did that because then he went method act, yeah. What is it? He went method or he will be messed up, yeah, beat up. Yeah.

Joe 19:41

Yeah. Exactly. Two hits, one hit, and he hits the floor. Yeah. But uh, you know, he came up with the phrase Neo Maxi zoom do we be on the fly. Oh yeah. So there's a lot of ad limbing, but um, you know, so

Dylan 20:00

If it fits.

Joe 20:01

Yeah. So yeah, like I said, Alice Cheetie was um Allison, and she was found from the movie that she had done called War Games, um, which is a pretty cool movie. It's like it's yeah. Anyway, um, so yeah, um, and then Paul Gleason, the principal, he was just pretty much a character actor that you know. Do you recognize him from other movies?

Dylan 20:27

I recognize his face, but I couldn't tell you what else he was in.

Joe 20:31

He was the condescending detective in Die Hard.

Dylan 20:35

In Die Hard?

Joe 20:37

Yeah. When uh when the the cop is trying to explain to him, like, you know.

Dylan 20:43

Oh okay. Yeah, I see that now.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Yeah. Yeah. There's so many villains in that movie. Like just like everybody has a villain.

Joe 21:01

Anyway. Uh so that's uh that's the breakdown. Uh you're forgetting one. Who's that? Brian. Oh, Anthony Michael Hall. Yeah. Uh it's Brian. Um, yeah, like I said, he was National Lampoons Vacation. Uh he was in Sixteen Candles, and then when it came up to to casting, he uh he he was written the part.

Dylan 21:27

So yeah.

Joe 21:28

Yeah.

Dylan 21:29

Very cool.

Joe 21:30

Yeah. And then he would go on to make other uh John Hughes films as well, as well as Molly Ringwald. And um this wasn't a John Hughes film, but one of the uh there was a movie considered a brat pack movie, which is called St. Almo's Fire, and that was Judd Nelson, um Ali Sheedy, and Emilio Estevez were all in that file. Okay.

Dylan 21:54

So which out of those characters do you think aged the best?

One-Room Storytelling And Craft

Joe 22:00

Hmm. Well, Emilio Estevez is Hispanic, so I'm partial. Ah man, I I really wish he would have been in more movies. I he took a break for a while. Oh yeah, and um, and so did Judd Nelson. Judd Nelson was in a movie called New Jack City, and that rocked the for the time. Oh man, he played a detective, and oh yeah. Um Amelia Westevez was in Young Guns, which is one of my favorite series. It was uh there was two, and you know, as of right now, they're working on a third one, which would be like they'd be a lot older. So I don't know, age well. That's how do you define that?

Dylan 22:47

I don't think uh I think that might be uh subjective.

Joe 22:53

Yeah, if you said which character aged the best, that would be interesting to go back and see what they all did, like the characters, right?

Dylan 23:01

Yeah, I did like the moment though when uh Claire kind of gave Allison the the makeover.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

Uh-huh.

Dylan 23:11

Yeah. Like you could actually see her her face more and it wasn't all hidden.

Joe 23:17

Yeah.

Dylan 23:17

You're like, oh wow. Yeah, right.

Joe 23:19

Yeah. And that that is a debated thing. Really? Because some people because it's not who she is. Right. Some people will say because it's not might not be who she is, or um, or you know, Claire was like imposing on her, and some people who see her um Allison as as goth is like, well, what's wrong with that? You know, which like for me, I was like, you know, I had a goth girlfriend, so it was like, yeah, you know, I was looking for Allison, you know. But you know, at the same time, like there was you know, that little moment I feel like it kind of made that connection between them. It did. And and if anything, like, so you know, Claire's um, you know, putting makeup on Alison, fixing her up, and Allison's like, Why why are you doing this? And and she just says, 'Cause you're letting me, you know. Right. So it's just to me, if anything, if Allison didn't stay that way, uh, if Andrew and her ended up staying together, he would have been okay with that. You know, I think he he liked her from the start. Right. And and so it didn't matter. Um, and then with with Claire, she gets to have a new friend and make a new friend and kind of, you know, so it was just a bonding moment, you know.

Dylan 24:45

The score for it's kind of different. Um, I guess I was expecting more like pop hits in it, yeah. Kind of from from the time than there really were. Yeah. Like it seemed like a super uh I don't know, basic score, if that's kind of how you want to do it. I mean, they had one uh dance sequence in there, right? Yeah, but yeah, yeah.

Joe 25:13

And and it's funny because the actual dance sequence wasn't even a song that became popular out of the movie.

Dylan 25:19

Yeah.

Joe 25:20

Um, my two favorites, of course, is Don't You Forget About Me.

Dylan 25:24

As we were singing it on the couch, yeah, yeah.

Favorite Scenes And Iconic Lines

Detention Vs Saturday School

Joe 25:27

Um, but I think the one I listened to a lot more lately is Fire in the Twilight, which is uh when they're running through the hallways and they're they're trying to find their way and and all that. Yeah, it's it's it's one of my favorites. And um the same uh kind of like songwriting team for the film were Keith Forcy and Steve Schiff, and they shopped around, like they wrote Don't You Forget About Me for the movie, uh and then they kind of went to different artists, like these are these were big artists at the time. So there's Brian Ferry of Roxy Music, um, and then there was uh Corey Hart who sang Sunglasses at night, and then Billy Idol, um, who sang White Wedding and Rebel Yell and all that stuff, and they just they passed it up and they went to Simple Minds and were like, hey, you know, we think you would be good at this. And John Hughes kind of would it was on his suggestion because yeah, he made like he would make um mixtapes for every movie. And they the cast said that when he would make the mixtape for the like for Breakfast Club, he would just pass it out to everybody and make you know, he'd make copies. And yeah, he said like he had they had like the fancy, nice tapes, and you know, with a good sh with the good covers and everything. Yeah, like I used to collect those like oh I got a good cover, I'm gonna put this on my my Nirvana, you know, so it doesn't break. Um, and so yeah, he would he would just do them all up and you know, like every all the things for playlists at the time was you had to time it right. So each side was like a half an hour, you know. So you had to like really make sure that this song is two minutes and thirty seconds, so the next one needs to be 30, you know, like right and all add up on each side. Um so yeah, so they they made all these things, and so um he had Simple Minds already in mind for being on it, but when they went to them, they're like, Ah, we don't really want to be part of an American pop thing, or we don't care about kids, the American kids or whatever, they're Scottish, you know, so yeah, like we don't give a rip. So um they just uh you know kept going after them and and then they just continue to ask, and they finally was um, I guess it was the lead singer's wife who heard it and was like, so her uh he was married to Chrissy Hines at the time, which uh she's part of the pretenders. So she heard it because they were like maybe she, you know, her band could do it. Yeah, and then she went to her husband and was like, You guys really need to do this. Oh, yeah, yeah. So convinced them and they decided to do it, and now it's like one of the number one, it's like if you do any 80s compilation, that song's gonna be on it. Yeah, don't you forget about me, right? It's like if you're doing it, you know, it literally says, Don't you forget about this song, right? Right. And uh, you know, I think like it's cool because since there was like kind of staff writers on it, um they they could redo the that song different ways, whereas like if you had a like kind of a pre-recorded song, like from the doors or something like that, yeah, you'd have to hire another band to record instrumental stuff when it's like all the same people, and it still just sounds like a like extended version of this song, you know. Right. So at the beginning of the movie, uh, you know, and it's showing all the things from the high school and the lockers and all that stuff, you're just hearing an instrumental of Don't You Forget About Me in kind of a different way. And so it's it just makes it cool. But um like I said, the my I think the the underrated hit um of this movie was Fire in the Twilight, because I I just it just has a lot of energy in it, and it even the recording to me has this syncopation in it that like it doesn't stop, like it stops enough in the chorus, but then when the or it stops enough in the verse, but then in the chorus comes up, it just keeps pushing and pushing. So you feel like you're running in a hallway. So and that band was Wang Chung. Uh their their big hit was everybody Wang Chung tonight. But uh yeah, they had some other ones, but yeah, it's one of my favorites from there. So one of the comparisons to this movie, um is there's a movie called or it was a play that was adapted and made into a movie called Twelve Angry Men. Okay, and that uh that all takes place, you know, like since it was a stage show anyway, it just takes place in one room. Yeah, you know, and so I mean you in that movie you kind of go to the bathroom and people are talking in there and then come back because it's about a jury. And so with with the whole idea of being in Saturday school, John Hughes kind of wanted it to be where it would take place all in one room, and so that it was dialogue driven. Yeah, you think back in your mind about John Bender's dad who and and mom who were abusive and things like that, but you never seen them. Yeah, right. And so I really think that you know, especially especially the first part of the movie, Judd Nelson really, you know, kind of uh, you know, as John Bender really pushes things through, like just keeps, you know, he has so much dialogue and so much to do. And obviously he's the most outspoken because it's most likely that he had been there before anyway. Yeah, you know, there's this idea of like when you see everybody sitting at the tables, he's immediately comfortable because he's been there before. And then as people get more comfortable, they start moving around and getting, you know, taking their jackets off. Like Claire literally has her gloves on for like a good while, you know. Yeah, I think she thinks she's gonna go in a minute, you know. Right, talk her way out of it or something. Yeah, yeah. So things like that where it's you know one location and right.

Dylan 32:04

That would be super challenging is to write a whole movie to take place in one location like that.

Joe 32:13

Yeah. And and a lot of this too was they did, you know, once he had the cast set, um, they did do a lot of improving and ad-libbing and things like that. And uh I forget how many they said, how many scripts he wrote, but he wrote multiple scripts for the movie, and he just wasn't satisfied with one.

Dylan 32:37

Yeah, yeah.

Joe 32:38

And so as soon as the cast heard about that, they're like, Can we see those? Like, can we can we look through them? And and so they started reading through everything and looking through, and they started picking and choosing what they would keep and what we'd you know. Oh yeah, yeah, and then there's like there's there's about an hour of extras on the disc, but there was more footage even after that.

Dylan 33:00

Really?

Production Speed And Rehearsal

Joe 33:00

Yeah, they filmed the whole sequence where Allison is dreaming and everybody's dressed up as a different character, and oh yeah. So so it's like he even though they didn't keep it, he would film everything and just go, okay, we're we're gonna see what we're gonna use and see how it works. Um so yeah, they would set up multiple cameras uh in different places so they can just get the performances as they went. Oh yeah. Um John Hughes would just sit on the side next to them and just kind of you know, like have them kind of do things and and kind of silently direct as they went through their dialogue. And they knew everything so well and they were in tune with their character so well that they could respond as the character. Yeah, you know, yeah.

Dylan 33:45

I mean, it also helps a lot when the character was written for you. Right, yeah, yeah.

Joe 33:50

And that was, I mean, that was Molly Reinwell's thing is that um, you know, with with the way John Hughes wrote, you know, like you know, with plane trains and all that, it's like he had them in mind, and so he knew like you could do this.

Dylan 34:04

Right. It definitely uh was good how the school kind of was a pressure cooker, you know, if you will, for kind of the whole thing just you know would heat up and build pressure until it all just boiled over.

Joe 34:19

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and it was good that there were there were those other scenes with uh Carl and the principal and um Richard. Retro Yeah, because I got you monologuing.

Dylan 34:39

Um because those definitely did help to relieve some some tension, uh-huh, some of the teenage angst.

Joe 34:48

Right, yeah, yeah. Yeah, because cause you still see that they have the same problems, yeah. Right. Yeah. So yeah, getting outside of that, even you know, when Andrew and Allison go for the sodas and you know, all that, like just kind of gets you outside, and then they decide to to like escape and run through the hallways, yeah.

Dylan 35:15

Yeah. So speaking of running through the hallways, do you have a favorite scene you have in mind?

Joe 35:23

Hmm. Off the top of my head, the one that I think it's kind of like the one with um the the really well-written dialogue in The Godfather with Kay and and uh Michael. Yeah. This one with Carl and the principal. Um, you know, the principal's like, you know, can you believe these guys are gonna be they're gonna be running the country and and all that stuff? And then he goes, I have this fear, like this, I wake up at night, this nightmare that these are the people who are gonna be taking care of us.

Dylan 36:00

No, they're not.

Joe 36:01

Yeah, he goes, he goes, I wouldn't count on it.

SPEAKER_00 36:03

Yeah, which is something more like you would say, right?

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Joe 36:08

I wouldn't count on a Joe. I would not yeah, but yeah, that's just a mic drop moment where he's just the it's like that scene is just done once he says that. You know, um, and Carl's just his even his small uh scenes, yeah. Um I you know, I gotta relate to him.

Dylan 36:32

I was gonna say you relate because the janitorial arts, custodial arts, custodial arts, yeah.

Joe 36:41

Uh Carl, um, how would one get into the custodial arts?

Dylan 36:47

Um I think one of my favorite scenes was the the library dance. Just the the breakdown of it all. And yeah, um it just it it showed a lot of personality. It was kind of a fun, fun break. Yeah.

Joe 37:05

Yeah, I don't know why, but one of the the scenes that uh John Hughes regrets filming was when uh Andrew's in that room and it's like you know, it's it's basically all smoke. Right. And then he goes down there, yeah, and then he's like punching in the air, and he's dancing, and then he ends up back in it, and he's like, ah, and then he like the whole thing shatters shatters. It was just I don't know if he felt like it was uh you know, kind of took you out of the movie or not.

Dylan 37:34

I felt like it was funny and cool and yeah, I felt I feel like it's was a little out of place though, watching it. And I I do kind of get that though, because I was like like watching it, I'm like that's what happened? Yeah, like I was just I was just waiting for more, and then like the the glass breaks, and I'm like isn't that safety glass? Like it doesn't break like that, right? Another good scene for me is the kind of the the confessions at the end where they're all sitting down, you know, talking about what they're in for. Yeah, and uh it just adds a whole nother layer to the characters.

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Joe 38:24

Yeah, it it's kind of his thing, like where he he brings everything back to the heart and brings everything back to like we're we're all humans, you know. There's a deleted scene of Allison where she finds uh a record in she she raids one of the teacher's lockers, oh yeah, and she finds a record and she tells she tells uh Andrew, so it's when they're going to get the sodas. She tells Andrew, do you know what this means? Because it's an album of 1999 from Prince. She goes, Do you know what this means? And he's she's like, What? And he says, They're human, you know. And I think that's that's one of the things that that could be said about them is that they're all human. Yeah, you know, they all experience pain. Um, some more than others, you know, Bender's the type that experiences it and then inflicts it on everybody else, and he just kind of passes the buck, you know. Um I think all in their own ways, they they take their pressure and kind of project it to other things. And yeah, you know, it like you know, Brian with his math stuff and Andrew with his wrestling, and yeah, you know, it just keeps his mind off of all the other stuff going on.

Dylan 39:52

Yeah, right. So I have to ask what's the difference between detention and Saturday school?

Joe 39:59

Traditionally. I mean, I know they call it detention, they call it Saturday detention, but traditionally, detention uh in my mind growing up was it was the time that you spent after school or even in elementary, because I experienced it all, people. Um, you know, I would get detention during recess. So while all the kids went outside and played, I had to stay in and write, I will not, whatever, you know. You know, and uh it's funny because he alludes to that. He's like, you know, when I say I want an essay, it doesn't mean the same thing written over and over. Not that one, huh? Okay. And and so that could be detention, but then other detention was like, I got in trouble, and this is more middle school and up. I got in trouble, and I need to stay after school for an hour and do whatever. Like sometimes it was a task, like yeah, you know, you had to clean the boards for the teacher, or you had to, you know, some kind of menial task, or you had to write an essay or do homework or whatever. Um, whereas Saturday school was a separate extra day of school during the week, like this this one, you know, takes place in an eight-hour span. Yeah, and that was what I did in Saturday school when I had Saturday school, is I had that eight hours where you know I had to go clean or do whatever to you know pass the time. And yeah, it's just like this is not the Breakfast Club, this is not what I expected.

Dylan 41:37

This isn't cool.

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Joe 41:38

Where's Ellison? Yeah, and I I like um you know, there's just so many quotes that so many things I can quote, and I quote while watching the movie. Um, but the whole Bender versus Vernon thing is is just hilarious. Yeah. You know, he's like, no, so right, yeah, just the one word, yeah. Egging him on. Yeah. It's like two months. I got you for two months. And I love Brian's interjection and all that. He's like, how many is that? Seven. He's like, he's like, uh, you forgot the one where he uh he told you that if he asked uh if you you wear Barry Manelow's clothes, and he's like, stay out of there.

SPEAKER_03 42:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:30

He's like, no, sir, it's actually seven. Yeah.

Dylan 42:33

Like, okay.

Joe 42:34

Yeah. And there's so many times that all of them are just like, you know, they all walk in and uh he's like, You need you guys need to write an essay and tell me, you know, like basically you don't want to be here in here again. And Brian gets up, he's like, I tell you right now, sir, I I don't ever want to be here. Right. Right.

Dylan 42:54

I'm like, okay.

Joe 42:59

Yes. Yeah. And then Brian writes his letter, and it's so iconic, you know. So yeah, this was filmed in over a month, and um they the Shermer High School, you know, was a closed-down school. Yeah. So it was used in um, I think it was used in Sixteen Candles, uh, Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I'm pretty sure it's the same high school where they built the the set for home alone. Oh yeah. Yeah, and it was just in continual, like, you know, the uh bunch of people used it for movies. Yeah, yeah. And so it works. And this this was actually they wanted a film in the library, but it was too small. So yeah, but you know, they went in the gym and they built the library. So that whole thing is. Oh wow, yeah, which was amazing because we all pointed out while we're while um Bender uh climbed up to the sitting on the stairs. Yeah, sitting on the stairs. There's like gum in the you know it's just a piece of gum stuck to the bottom.

SPEAKER_00 44:04

It's like there's so many details in that in that thing, like that whole set.

Joe 44:09

It's yeah, you know, it's it's just completely uh they thought of everything, yeah.

Dylan 44:16

Yeah, so right. Man, I would have not thought that.

Joe 44:21

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it looked it looked like a hip happening, yeah, you know, like working library.

Dylan 44:31

Man, and it being filmed in just over a month, like how long does the movie usually take to film at least a while?

Joe 44:38

Like I mean, thinking of a bunch of the different movies, like an average of six months or something like that. Yeah, sometimes a year, but I mean, this is John Hughes, so the even this movie he wrote in two days. Like the initial script he wrote in two days. Yeah, just like Planes Trains he wrote in a couple of days. Um, and uh because it was an incident that happened, um, I think uh he said what was the other movie um Mr. Mom wrote in a couple days.

Dylan 45:11

Yeah, yeah.

Joe 45:12

So it's just that's talent. Yeah, so then you know, his his schedule and especially having you know multiple angles at the same time and then and then just um one set for most of it. Right.

Dylan 45:30

Just I guess you don't have to change a whole lot then. Yeah. So then but the the did they have much time to like rehearse then since it was done so fast?

Joe 45:42

Yeah, they did rehearsing before. So um a lot of movies will do this, and this they did this is like they get to know their characters, they do ad-libbing, um, kind of like stand by me, how they all like just did ad libs with their characters, like kind of did that and got to know it, got to know the script. So it's kind of like rehearsing for a play. Once it's show night, you know, you're ready to go. So you you rehearse all these weeks, and then when it's time for the show, that's that you got your you better have your lines, you know. And so they when they they went to film, it was like they were all ready to go. The crazy thing was like like for Andrew, um, the different people who were like considered for the role were Michael J. Fox, Jim Carrey had auditioned for it, oh yeah, Tom Cruise, Matthew Broderick, and Rob Lowe. So like really, yeah.

Dylan 46:41

Wow.

Joe 46:42

Yeah, yeah. It it's crazy to think of like you know, who could have been in that and yeah, that would have been such a different, yeah, different movie. It would have been interesting if like Michael J. Fox was more of a Brian. Yeah, you know, like if I could recast, you know, like if I saw them in the you know, like a recast the movie with eighty other eighties actors. Yeah, yeah. John Cusack actually had the part for a while of John Bender, but they ended up John Hughes got close with him and and you know thought he had the part, and then like the studios came in and were like, no, we we want to Judd Nelson, and then he saw Oh really? Yeah, he saw Judd Nelson, was like, okay, he's got the part because he's really got it down.

Dylan 47:27

Oh wow. The Brat Pack.

Joe 47:30

Yeah.

Dylan 47:30

What does that mean, the Brat Pack?

Joe 47:32

So the Brat Pack came from the from the original 60s Rat Pack, right? Okay. So there was like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, uh, Sammy Davis Jr., all those guys who were like these kind of these singers who would sing in Vegas, the the original Vegas when it was like brand new and it was like the thing, you know. So shiny and new. Yeah, and so they the the rat pack were just like you know, these crooner guys that just were on top. And so what ended up happening was um they scheduled an interview with Emilio Esteves, and it was kind of after this movie, like it was to promote Breakfast Club, but St. Almost Fire was coming, was like filming at the time, and so when the person who was interviewing him said, Hey, why don't you bring a couple of your friends along? He brought like a lot of his friends. Oh yeah. So like it was it was pretty much like you know, like you know, Molly Ringwald and uh Judd Nelson and Allie Sheedy, um, and then some of the other people like Rob Lowe and some other people who were doing um St. Almald's Fire. And so what ended up happening was that interview was a dinner, started at dinner, and then they kept hanging out all night, and then they just started doing like all these crazy things that they would just do on a normal night and hang out. So this guy's the reporter's like writing everything down, and so then he ended up hanging out with them a couple more nights and just kind of going through yeah, these kids are crazy, you know. And so it went from it went from being um the rat pack to calling it the calling them the brat pack, yeah. Also because they were young and they were all these actors who were just on top and starting to get you know momentum, and and they were dominating the you know uh movie screens, you know. And so uh and so that's kind of how it came about with this one article that started, and when it came out, it said like you know, you know, like basically introducing you to the brat pack, and and then it was about like and then they just all these pictures of the nights that they were hanging out, and and all these actors weren't were unaware that this reporter was doing it, so it was a little kind of like backstabby to them in some ways, and so it really like it kind of put a damper on the whole teen movie thing too, because it they're you know it was going for a certain thing and and then it kind of went another way, and yeah. So a lot of actors like Molly Ringwald try to distance themselves later on from the the whole you know title of that. Oh really? Yeah, and they she got away from teen movies and didn't want to do anything more with John Hughes after because she just wanted to be different and yeah, wanted to get out of that, but didn't want to fall under the yeah, that umbrella. So and there's a whole I think there's a whole documentary on Hulu about it too. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So but that's the that's the brat pack.

Dylan 50:57

There you go. So, Joe, out of ten detention slips, what would you rate this movie?

Joe 51:04

It's a for me, it's a classic. I think I'll go with an eight. An eight, okay, yeah.

Dylan 51:12

Um, I would probably give it probably a six. Six? Yeah, I felt like there were times where it kind of just dragged on. Oh. I don't know. I got got a little sidetracked on the phone and you know, maybe that's why, but yeah, just can it hold my attention.

Joe 51:30

Yeah, when when they made this movie, they didn't consider that. Still ain't gonna be on the phone when we write this? Let's change the scene.

Dylan 51:37

Right, very specific.

Joe 51:38

Yeah, let's break the glass and see if he see if he notices.

Dylan 51:43

Yeah. Um do you think that it still resonates with a modern audience?

Joe 51:51

Yeah. I mean when I was in high school No, I meant modern audience. Right, right. I'm just um when I was in high school, back in the 1880s, um, you know, it was in the 90s. I graduated in 97, so it still resonated then, like, you know, what is that, like 10 years after? But uh even now, it's you know, kids watch it and and even the the actors had talked about how their kids were watching the movie and were like, whoa, yeah, what did that mean? Yeah, because hey, they talk about some stuff, you know, right? Yeah, and and it's like these are teenagers talking about these things, and you know, and like in all reality, uh Anthony Michael Hall and uh Molly Greenwald were both 16 at the time. So uh Judd Nelson and the rest of them are like 22, 23. Oh yeah, yeah. So like all the stuff that John like when kisses her and all that kind of stuff, they used a double for that. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So they were the only real kids that were there, you know. Wow, yeah. Which I could I couldn't tell at the time. I mean, I guess if I really looked, you know, you you could, but yeah, you know, I just yeah.

Dylan 53:09

That's like when Andrew was doing doing the somersaults and stuff, like I was looking to see like when it got switched out for like the body double and the Texas switch.

Joe 53:22

Yeah, I don't know. I mean uh those actors like you know were pretty agile, yeah. Right. So I think it's kind of a timeless one, especially with the problems.

Dylan 53:34

Yeah, right. Definitely covers some some universal issues.

Joe 53:39

Yeah, yeah, it doesn't it doesn't get locked into just the eighties, right? No, and I think that's that was kind of the point, is like these problems are timeless, these issues are timeless. Yeah. Um they're not even like I wouldn't even say they're specific to where you live, you know? Yeah. So well in the next episode, well, in the next episode, well, in the next episode, we'll be going through Groundhog Day.

Dylan 54:11

You got me on that one.

Joe 54:19

I I had to stop because I saw your face.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

Like, what is he doing?

Dylan 54:27

Well, thank you for listening to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast. Make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast app. And if you're enjoying it, leave us a five-star rating. It really helps the show grow.

Joe 54:39

And we want to hear from you. Text us your name and movie suggestions using the link in the description. You can follow all our socials in the description as well. Everything you need is right there. We'll be back next week with another movie premiere. Hey Dylan, does Barry Manilo know you listen to this podcast? Sincerely yours.

SPEAKER_00 55:05

The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club.