St. Elmo's Fire (1985) * *

Directed by:  Joel Schumacher

Starring:  Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Martin Balsam, Andie McDowell, Jenny Wright

We see seven Georgetown University graduates in caps and gowns walking toward the camera and ready to take on the world.     Months later, the world will have taken on them.    St. Elmo's Fire is one of the many 80s films starring various combinations of the "Brat Pack", actors such as Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, etc.    These characters are entitled and shallow, placed into formulaic situations in which we get to see them all grow up at long last.     I first saw it as a teen in 1985 and it didn't resonate much with me then, probably because these were people in their 20s encountering issues I had yet to deal with.     33 years later, I watched it again and it still didn't strike a chord with me.    I am relieved to discover my judgment wasn't so off the charts in 1985 that I mistakenly believed St. Elmo's Fire to be a deep, powerful film.

The seven Brat Packers all have problems which need to be neatly resolved in about a 100-minute running time.     Alec (Nelson) is a Congressional aide who can't help but cheat on his loving, patient girlfriend Leslie (Sheedy), who can't decide between marriage and a career.    (A word of advice, Leslie: Choose the career).    Kevin (McCarthy) is a would-be writer who mopes around chain smoking cigarettes because of unrequited love.    He had better publish something soon in order to pay for the cartons of cigarettes he must go through each day.     Kirby (Estevez) is a law student in love with an older doctor (McDowell), who won't give him the time of day.    Kirby's intense behavior towards Dale should have her wanting to get a restraining order.    Billy (Lowe) is a saxophonist with a drinking problem who can't hold a job and longs to return to the frat house days of college he left behind a mere four months prior.    He is married with a child, but he spends more time hanging around his friends and Wendy (Winningham), than he does his wife.    Wendy is trying to get out from under the thumb of her domineering businessman father (Balsam), who wants her to settle down with a nice Jewish guy. 

Finally, there is Jules (Moore), who has a drug problem, a money problem, and allegedly having an affair with her boss which can only end in disaster.     Her money issues are so severe she has taken two months' worth of advances on her paychecks and is always trying to angle for a loan or another advance.     We now have the players straight and their superficial problems, but how bad can things be when they are able to buy drinks at will and have enough free time to conveniently gather together as a group whenever they are needed?     The character who inspires the most sympathy is Billy, mostly anchored by a Lowe performance which is perceptive.    He wants to be the life of the party, but has enough wherewithal to realize he is drowning and even more to realize he started a family way too fast.     The other characters and performances fluctuate between somewhat likable and flat.   Leslie is coveted by two men and we are at a loss to determine why.   She doesn't have enough personality of her own for us to care much about her romantic tribulations.     Kevin is insufferably morose, narcissistically calling attention to his romantic issues through world-weary cynicism which doesn't wear well for a 22-year old.     The dude needs to lighten up and stop smoking so much.

By the end, all of these characters will have mostly satisfactory resolutions to their plotlines, and one leaves the group behind altogether to strike out on his own in New York.    Apparently, New York is the only city in which you can become a star playing a saxophone.    Such 80s thinking.