Retro Flashback: St. Elmo's Fire

That was just passion burning? Thank God, I thought I had to go the free clinic.



St. Elmo's Fire did the impossible, it ended the reign of the Brat Pack forever. Perhaps we weren't ready to accept our teen idols as grownups. Perhaps we weren't ready to accept John Bender as a yuppie Republican. Perhaps Joel (Bat Nipples) Schumacher really is an evil spirit and must be destroyed.

Our favorite Brat Packeteers (sans Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald) have graduated college and are ready to make their mark on the world.

Judd Nelson plays Alec Newberry, a Democrat turned Republican who wants to marry his live in girlfriend Leslie. However this doesn't stop him from banging every girl within ten feet of him. Judd Nelson glowers and snarls like an epileptic Elvis impersonator but never quite emotes.

Ally Sheedy's witchy weirdness is masked in the thankless role of Leslie. Leslie is a wanna be career woman who doesn't believe in marriage. Despite her character being terminally boring, she has two men fighting over her.

The other man is Kevin played by Andrew McCarthey with his perpetual deer-in-the-headlights gaze. Kevin is a sarcastic obituary writer who yearns to write something earth changing. Humorously the character with no life succeeds by writing an article on the meaning of life. He secretly lusts after Leslie and spends his time debating life and love with a neighborhood hooker.

Emilio Estevez ups his creep factor as law student, Kirby Kager. A chance meeting with a former crush causes him to become full on psycho. He drops out of law school, joins med school, works for a Korean gangster and goes back to law school all in one film. His stalking methods are rewarded though by a kiss from his beloved.

Demi Moore plays party girl, Jules. Jules is the talking handbook of '80s indulgence with her furs, coke, and pink Billy Idol inspired apartment. She is also under a mountain of stress and it culminates in a very '80s nervous breakdown reminiscent of a Bonnie Tyler video.

Mare Winningham plays Wendy the allegedly fat, virginal, heart of the movie. I say allegedly because in reality the actress was pregnant filming this movie. She's the typical rich girl yearning to be out on her own. She is also typically co-dependant on bad boy Billy.

Billy is played by Rob Lowe, chaos incarnate. The only married parent of the group, he blows through jobs and women like they are going out of style. But he only does that when he's not mangling his saxophone during awkward music numbers. Who didn't giggle hysterically when he left his friends to pursue his music career?

The movie in a word, maudlin, we don't even like these characters how can we root for them? Watching a bunch of Yuppies in trendy clothes and fab apartments complain about how hard life is not your typical post college experience. Why not show the real world of post college life? Medium wage jobs, that small apartment you can barely afford and eating Top Ramen more times that you need to.

Rather than fade away, this film continues to thrive. CBS is planning on making a series based on St. Elmo's Fire.

If you could rewrite any piece of fiction, what would it be and why?

My choice would be The Breakfast Club. Don't get me wrong, I love this movie and have seen it many times. Still the ending has always ticked me off.

The whole underlying theme of the film is self-acceptance. The film tells us that you don't have to what your friends and family want you to be. Be yourself, the film screams at us from every corner.

So how does this movie end? They take the cool freaky fringe chick, Allison (Ally Sheedy) and change her. The popular girl gives her some clothes and a preppie makeover and throw her into the arms of the jock character. A character who showed little attraction to her until she starts looking like everyone else.

What would have been so wrong about the jock accepting her as she was and celebrating it? The ending strikes me as something the studio wrangled together for a happier, more conventional ending

The Best Little Girl In The World.

Once upon a time I used to religiously buy a copy of Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. For a movie buff in the pre internet it was a plethora of movie information and trivia. One of the movie's listed in there had always intrigued me but damned if I could find it. That movie was The Best Little Girl In The World. It listed two of my favorite actresses Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ally Sheedy.

Well imagine my delight I was channel surfing to finally catch this much anticipated but never found film. Sigh anticipation is overrated. The movie while I'm sure pivotal for it's time was a script by numbers bore with a mostly uninteresting cast.

Based on the novel by Steven Levenkron, the film centers around Casey a high school junior. Casey is the epitome of the all American girl, an aspiring ballerina, cheerleader, good student, and someone who avoids sex, drugs, and booze. Casey's family on the other hand is a nightmare, her mother is overbearing, her father's a doormat, and her troublesome sister has just announced that she is pregnant. An overwhelmed Casey soon succumbs to Anorexia as a method of coping.

As I said before the movie is dull. With the exception of Leigh, the cast seems to be going through the motions. Not that I can blame them as the movie veers from dull and predictable to insanely ludicrous within seconds. You can predict every twist and turn without using single brain cell. And to add insult to injury Sheedy only appears in the film for one or two scenes playing a friend of Casey's.

Simply put if you are a major fan of Jennifer Jason Leigh then definitely give this a scene, she is quite wonderful. But if not it's better to avoid this film.