Copyright slashfilm
"The Breakfast Club" was one of several coming-of-age comedies from Hughes that redefined the genre and heavily influenced all the similar films that came after. He was in his 30s when he wrote it — alongside his directorial debut, "Sixteen Candles," — but managed to touch on something profound, rebellious, and deeply intimate about youngsters coming of age, which wasn't how they'd normally been depicted in movies up until that point. Hughes treated his characters (and the young actors who played them) as adults, giving them credit without judgment or prejudice of who they seemed to be. "The Breakfast Club" in particular dug into that with a sharp, if comedic, tone that allowed the characters to be serious and silly at the same time for their age. Despite being quite different from each other socially and class-wise, they slowly develop a bond and fondness for each other that seemed simply impossible at the start of their detention. Hughes' later movies, like "Pretty in Pink," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and "Some Kind of Wonderful," were all variations of that same teen experience at their core. But personally, I think none of them matched the potency and sincerity of "The Breakfast Club." That feature was the quintessential blueprint for Hughes (and the many other directors inspired by his work), and he used that template to build new stories on. However, once the '80s ended, he moved on to more family-friendly films (such as "Beethoven" and the Christmas classic "Home Alone") that focused more on sweet and mischievous kids rather than defiant and introspective teens.
