Barfly (Barbet Schroeder, 1987)
I apologize for not writing about this sooner, because I really don't remember a lot about it in detail. Unfortunately that speaks toward my experience with it. The gist of the story is that Mickey Rourke plays a drunk named Henry. Henry prides himself in being an unproductive member of society, so he mostly just drinks, gets in fights (and loses), and occasionally writes. He meets a woman named Wanda, played by Faye Dunaway, another barfly(title!). They enter into a turbulent relationship, and many hijinks ensue. Or at least it seems likely, the rest of the movie kinda blurs together.
I did overall enjoy the two lead performances, Rourke more than Faye. He plays a good bum, managing to be likable and not just despicable. I guess the big fault I have with the movie is it just never did anything to stand out to me. Scenes would happen and I would instantly forget about them, nothing ever added up to anything worth remembering. There were very few instances where the humor got any reaction out of me, and without that I found very little to take from it.
The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, 1985)
This is one of those movies I've really never had any interest in despite the amount of love there is for it. I think I just assumed I was of the wrong generation to appreciate it. Luckily that was not the case.
I think what I admire most about this movie is how simple the premise is. It barely strays from the setup of 5 characters in a room, and when it does it does it organically. It doesn't fall back on flashbacks or anything to flesh out the characters for the audience, it sticks to its guns and builds a really great character study out of just this one days events. And the characters are all really good. Not all of them are likable, but even the ones who aren't have depth to them, and you're given the opportunity to view them from different perspectives throughout the movie.
It succeeds at being a very funny comedy, but also as an introspective and philosophical experience. I was pretty amazed at how great a scene such as the five main characters sitting in a circle talking could be. It's really long, but maybe the most compelling scene in the movie.
I had a few minor quibbles with the story. For instance, marijauna could be construed as an awfully convenient way to have the characters warm up to each other enough to open up some. It works, but I think it would have been more interesting if it was earned without that intervention. I also thought Allison's makeover was a completely unnecessary cliche that also undermined her character (and my favorite character).
But those are minor points
VerdictThe Breakfast Club takes this one easily. Sorry Mickey, looks like some more drinking is in order.