Review of Reviews: The Breakfast Club

positive: http://www.denverpost.com/movies/ci_6444463
negative:  http://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/the-breakfast-club-1200426442/


In the positive review, the critic begins by describing the movie's strength: it's raw edginess. He explains that the real, theatrical version of the film is much stronger than the edited television version because it includes every f-bomb and shows the actual usage of drugs. The critic then focuses his attention to the plot/storyline, complimenting it on its ability to portray the hidden truths of adolescents and high school students. He then closes his review by comparing the film to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", another film by the director, John Hughes.
In the negative review, the critic uses larger and overly difficult terms to describe the plot of the movie. He uses such terminology to mock the simplistic plot of the movie. He refers to the characters as "twits"and their experiences as "sudden insight" to make the movie appear to be amateurish and underdeveloped. He concludes his review by insulting the film and its audience in saying that films like this will cause the brain to rot.

"Through one of the best ensemble performances from Hollywood youth, and through the words of writer/director John Hughes, "The Breakfast Club" speaks undeniable truths about the high school experience that ring true a generation later." (positive)
Nevermind what decade this movie was filmed in, it speaks truth about the high school experience that have been experienced years before and decades after. It isn't afraid to address that kids care about their image amongst their peers or that some will get involved with drugs or that most students struggle with social acceptance at some point. The film didn't hold back, and that's what makes it enjoyable to watch.
"Coming together as strangers, none of the group initially likes thuggish loudmouth Judd Nelson, who taunts pretty Molly Ringwald, torments dorkish Anthony Michael Hall and challenges champ athlete Emilio Estevez while the odd lady, Ally Sheedy, looks on from a different space." (negative)
This is the only sentence that remains neutral to the description of the plot in the review. I like that the critic addresses the different identities of the characters and how they initially interact with each other.

The interview that's more convincing to me was the positive one. It pointed out the controversial elements of the film in its opening paragraph and made them appear as one of the film's strengths rather than a weakness. It stayed true to the plot while still voicing its opinion and went into detail about the characters and purpose of the film itself. The negative review just focused on criticizing the film and having an insulting word choice to make a future viewer uninterested in seeing the film; it didn't use real evidence or examples to back up its opinion.

I would definitely talk about the film's main purpose/goal, which is to portray the inner lives of high school students in a true and realistic way. I would cover the identities of each of the characters to show the diversity within the group and hopefully attract more people to view it. I'd make sure to mention the R rating, the explicit language, and the drug usage because I think people find that more interesting in a film. I don't think there's anything about the film that I wouldn't mention because I think every little detail of it is necessary and important in order to create the realistic feeling that the audience can identify with.