St. Elmo's Fire



I never bothered to see this when it came out. And over the years I would see bits and pieces, but never stick with it. It's only because I'm reading Rob Lowe's book Stories I Only Tell My Friends that I decided to once and for watch the movie that is considered to be ground Zero for the Brat Pack. So, having just watched St. Elmo's Fire, how does it hold up? Um, it's a pretty bad movie as the characters are just too dumb to ever care about anything they say or do. And most of the things they do in the movie are just so unreleastic in asking the viewer to accept it at face value and go with it.

My biggest pet peeve here is in Emilio Estevez character of Kirby, who has an insane obsession with the girl of his dreams: Dale Biberman played by Andie McDowell. The way he acts toward her, is just downright creepy and weird. Last time I checked, stalking is not a fun pastime for anyone. And the way Dale just accepts this and invites him into her home and then later into her cabin while she is on a ski trip just makes you go "what the fuuuuuck". Unrealistic indeed.

The rest of the cast includes Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Andrew McCarthy, Ally Sheedy and Mare Winningham. An all-star cast then and today. But there really isn't a whole lot to like about this movie with the exception of a few choice moments here and there.

I blame the writing and directing soley on Joel Schumaker, who to this day, I consider to way overrated. The only thing I even like that he did was The Lost Boys. That's it. Anyway, this is definitely a Rent if you have time to kill and check your head at the door. This gets a ratings bump for the Theme Song, St. Elmo's Fire by John Parr.