St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) Review

St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)

St. Elmo’s Fire follows a group of recent college graduates who embark on a series of misadventures in the real world, as they try to grapple with adulthood.

What happens when a group of partiers try to hold down jobs, fall in and out of love with one another, and still maintain their youthful fun, all while trying not to turn into their square parents? Well, St. Elmo’s Fire of course, a Brat Pack flick that could easily have been a beautiful coming of age story about a group of kids lost in their ways after hitting rock bottom, only to come out the end, better and more evolved. And yet, what we get is actually a more true to life interpretation (minus the soap opera-y elements) where our characters, already at rock bottom, fuck around and go further, never rising to the occasion of maturity or getting past their own self absorbed, childish, and sloppy ways, reveling in entitlement and always trying to recapture the glory days of college. Frankly, it becomes hard to watch in the end, because there isn’t hardly a single character in this for you to root for, let alone like. 

Their behavior is toxic, and it’s a wonder that, in the context of the film, they were ever actually friends, what with the way they seem to be stuck in an endless cycle of hurting themselves and one another constantly. People like Billy, or Kirby, or even Kevin are constantly rewarded for their awful actions (Billy most of all, who borders on attempted rape at one point), making what could’ve been a rewarding movie quite the opposite, and mostly reprehensible at times. 

Elmo’s sports a terrific ensemble cast however in Andie MacDowell, Mare Winningham, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, and Rob Lowe. Moore and Lowe, while the rest put in pretty acceptable performances, were definitely the highlights of this one, with Moore never quite reaching into that “I hate you” territory, as the two party, sleep with, and do whatever they can get their hands on in what is very reminiscent of myself and many-a post-college grads I know. 

St. Elmo’s Fire, directed by Joel Schumacher, is such a tough film to gauge because while it’s deeply realistic in its interpretation of troubled kids who don’t know how to handle the straight edges of the real world, the way it rewards and encourages such toxic and obsessive behavior among a group of friends is impossible to ignore, let alone enjoy. 

5.8/10