Details from IMDB:
St. Elmo’s Fire
Seven friends, recent college graduates, are searching for a place in the real world as they face issues. Against the backdrop of St. Elmo’s, their local hangout, they save, betray and love one another as only the closest of friends can.
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Initial Thoughts:
I grew up in the 80s, and as such, the music, movies, and music will always hold a special place in my heart. I realized that I had never seen this movie, and as I had just watched Demi Moore (in Landman, good show!) decided to finally watch it. Oh, also, this was on a Canadian streamer, Crave, so I was glad to watch it ad-free.
Main Points:
Like any time, not every movie from the 80s was a winner, and I’ve got to say I found this movie slow, dated and problematic, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t find some enjoyment from it either. Demi Moore was just 25 when this movie came out. She looks so young here, all the actors do. I say that because while I felt it would be nice to have some nostalgia, viewing it didn’t have the desired effect; it mostly just made me feel old as I thought about what life was like for me at 22 and how that’s long gone.
Enough, I’ll be 50 in a few months, and I just feel it some days, but on with this review. Everyone does a good job, but a lot of these characters are just super annoying. As I mentioned, there are some problematic elements here. For most of the movie, Kirby, played by Emilio Estevez, stalks Andie MacDowell’s character, and it’s played off as no big deal and even cute! There’s another scene where Rob Lowe’s character does some unwanted touching and kissing, and Demi Moore’s character says no and has to shove him away, and there are no charges, an apology, or even a discussion of it afterwards! Both of these scenes are cringy to watch, and the message that the male characters in the movie can do almost whatever they want to women with little to no consequences is troublesome and sexist. All that said, there is some good music, the theme song is played three times, and scenes I liked, and the story is ok to watch.
Final Thoughts:
All of the actors here do the best they can, but the story often moves along very slowly, which was more common in the 80s, I know, or often seems very repetitive. I like the close bond of friendship the characters all have, and in the last 20-30 minutes, they are all forced to grow up/make changes in their lives. I would give this a cautious recommendation and 6.5 out of 10. It certainly didn’t take much for an R rating in the 80s; there is a little blood, some nudity, one sex scene and drug use, so ages 17+, but I would consider this tame compared to a lot of titles. This movie is a good representation of mediocre movies from the 80s, and I would say to watch through the credits, as the movie just continues without any of the main characters, certainly something you don’t see much these days. The beginning is also unusual, as you’re just dropped into a scene with the opening credits still running, which you don’t see much these days.