Brat Pack Feature: St. Elmo's Fire (1985)

 Written By: Danny Albers 

Synopsis (Spoilers) 

Seven friends are struggling finding their place in the world after recently graduating from Georgetown University. No matter what is going on in their lives, or the problems that are going on they can always meet at their local watering hole St. Elmo’s bar. Rob Lowe plays Billy The Kid, a saxophone player who’s struggling letting go of the frat party life, and no job really feels like something he wants to do. He has some issues with overindulging and coming off like an insensitive womanizing jerk even though he cares deeply for his friends. Between his wife and child that he’s not providing for, and Wendy the virgin, the people who love him always seem to be let down by him. Ally Sheedy plays Leslie Hunter. Leslie is in a serious relationship with aspiring politician Alec Newberry, played by Judd Nelson. Leslie looks past the constant infidelity of Alec because she believes that she is supposed to endure anything in order to be a wife to a successful man. So she supports him in his endeavors but grows increasingly unhappy and resistant to the idea of marrying Alec. When she asks Alec about his sleeping around, he blames his friend Kevin Dolenz (played by Andrew McCarthy). Kevin is a writer down on love and trying to find the meaning of life. He’s a deep thinker, and some of his friends suspect that he might be gay. But when Alec and Leslie break up, Kevin reveals that he’s in love with Leslie, and they sleep together. This begins a complicated love triangle that begins to cause a rift inside the friend group. 

Kevin: Well, you’re all I think about 

Leslie, Me? 

Kevin: And I think the reason I’m not interest in other women, and why I haven’t had sex in so long, is because I’m desperately, completely in love with you 

Kirby Keger is the roommate of Kevin who’s in love with a doctor at the local hospital. A girl he went out with when he was freshman. His intrigue borders creepy obsession, and he becomes enthralled in a journey to get her to notice him, a feeling that’s obviously unfamiliar to Kirby. The entire experience is humbling and a learning experience for him as he learns to move on and leave the past behind. Jules, played by Demi Moore, is kind of the female Billy of the group. She’s a diva party girl that has some step parent issues and always has to be the center of attention. Her impulsive spending on herself to boost her self worth and her increasingly problematic drug use causes her to reach a tipping point. It’s the revelation of the poor state of Jules that brings everyone back together despite their issues. But when Billy, who’s kind of the fuck up of the group, steps up for Jules in her time of need, the friends realize their friendship is all that matters, and that these problems and feelings of uncertainty are only temporary.

Billy: Jules, y’know, honey… this isn’t real. You know what it is? It’s St. Elmo’s Fire. Electric flashes of light that appear in dark skies out of nowhere. Sailors would guide entire journeys by it, but the joke was on them…there was no fire. There wasn’t even a St. Elmo. They made it up. They made it up because they thought they need it to keep them going when times got tough, just like you’re making up all of this. We’re all going through this. It’s our time at the edge.  

They are reassured that no matter what, you can always count on your friends. It’s there that they realize the true importance of what used to happen at St. Elmo’s, it wasn’t the excitement of drinking and hooking up that made them happy, but the companionship that they shared. The movie ends with the group of friends looking inside the bar, deciding to go home since they have work in the morning. They agree to meet for brunch on Sunday, an implication that they are accepting growing up. 

Thoughts 

I truly believe that shows like Friends, Will & Grace, How I Met Your Mother, and Seinfeld don’t get maid without the influence of St. Elmo’s Fire. St. Elmo’s Fire showed the appeal of a “coming of age” feature for young adults struggling to get on their feet in the real world. St. Elmo’s Fire shined a light on a time in everyone's life, the early 20’s when one gets out of college, where uncertainty and urgency takeover. This follows a pattern with The Breakfast Club, that tells a similar story but looks a little deeper at relationships, cliques, and why people treat each other the way they do towards the end of high school. St. Elmo’s looks more towards the meaning of life, and what one needs to be happy. The one critique I have on the film is that they tell a story very specific to a societal economic group. Maybe in 2024, this film wouldn’t feel so “privileged” and “yuppy” than it did in 1985, a time when nobody really was able to afford going to college unless they were from a wealthy family. Writing this piece, I can say I can relate as someone who attended college and had some of these struggles when I graduated, but for someone who didn’t attend college, parading around your former campus worried you won’t live up to these fake expectations put on you by yourself and your blind ambitions might be foreign to people who just wanted to work and live their lives in piece. Many of the characters come off ignorant, and oblivious to real world problems. It’s a great movie, and I think it had the right message but a slightly skewed approach. Again, St. Elmo’s Fire walked so Friends and Will & Grace could run. The soundtrack to the film was excellent as well. Riddled with 80’s nostalgia, John Parr’s song St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion) is just as classic as the film. The music video features all the movie stars in a similar setting as the film. The chorus is iconic, and synonymous with the sound of top pop hits of the 1980’s. 

Star Rating (1-10): ★★★★★★★ 7