Melissa McCarthy is back on our screens in Life of The Party, playing a middle-aged mother returning to college in order to complete her degree after her husband abruptly asks for a divorce. To celebrate, we look back at the best Back to School Films to grace our screens:
The Breakfast Club
The first of many John Hughes’ classics, ‘The Breakfast Club’ focuses on the more disciplinary side of school and throws five teenagers from different cliques together one Saturday for all-day detention.
Not only does it play up the typical high school stereotypes in each of the film’s lead roles, it twists them in a way that blurs the lines between the supposedly disparate personalities.
The film’s cult status is heavily referenced in 2012’s hit-film ‘Pitch Perfect’, where it is the first film the lead character Beca can watch all the way through, and moves her to tears.
10 Things I Hate About You
The late 90s high school setting for a modern take on Shakespeare’s mid-16th century play “The Taming of the Shrew” introduced film audiences to the Australian heartthrob Heath Ledger and provided breakout roles for Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
With a great plot (thanks to Shakespeare), a hilarious script and iconic scenes (Heath Ledger’s rendition of Frank Sinatra’s ‘I Love You Baby’ will stay in our hearts forever) this film is a 90’s classic.
Mean Girls
New student Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is, by all rights, a well-rounded student whose home-schooled background has ill-prepared her for the insanity that is public high school. Cady is at first rejected by a top-tier clique ‘The Plastics’ before being absorbed into it, eventually ending up back where she started but with a new perspective on high school and life in general.
Mean Girls has drawn iconic status and is up there with the most quotable films of all time. Who hasn’t heard the line ‘You go Glen Coco’?!
Footloose
While the premise of Herbert Ross’ 1984 musical drama Footloose sounds far-fetched – a Chicago teen moves to a small town where a local minister has outlawed dancing and rock music–it was actually inspired by a similar way of life in a small Oklahoma town.
The film adopts the common theme of standing against authority (a la Breakfast Club) and explores the mob mentality that can arise in even the most well-meaning of folks. Naturally, it also has some brilliant dance scenes.
Clueless
Based on Jane Austen’s novel Emma, ‘Clueless’ is yet another quintessential back-to-school movie. This coming-of-age rom-com stars Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Paul Rudd and the late Brittany Murphy.
Like most back-to-school movies, a new student shakes up the school structure and causes Cher (Silverstone) to reflect on her life and priorities.
Clueless is best-known for its fashion, with Cher’s iconic yellow tartan two-piece being readily available in fancy dress stores.
Grease
The ultimate back-to-school movie film, where vacationing ingenue Sandy Olsson meets bad-boy Danny Zuko over Summer. At school, the pair re-unite, and nearly two hours of all-singing, all-dancing 1950s splendour ensues.
The film grossed $395 million and shot Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta to stardom. Trivia from the film has gone down in pop-culture history, such as the fact that Olivia Newton-John needed to be sewn into her trousers for the final scene.
Life of the Party is in cinemas 10th May.
