St. Elmo's Fire (1985) review

(7/10)

This so-called classic isn't as funny as Sixteen Candles or as deep as The Breakfast Club, but it isn't terrible. However, it's so jumbled up and underdeveloped that it can't be considered truly great, either.

PLOT:A group of friends graduate from college and meet up regularly at the local bar, St. Elmo's, while trying to balance their real world lives with catching up. Jules (Demi Moore) is dealing with drug addiction and a fatal attraction in the work field. Wendy (Mare Winningham) has self-image issues and is trying to get with the no-good Billy (Rob Lowe), who plays the saxaphone and can't keep a job. Alex (Judd Nelson) is engaged to his girlfriend, Leslie (Ally Sheedy), but is having issues staying committed to her. Kevin (Andrew McCarthy) is a tortured newspaper writer who also loves Leslie hopelessly. Lastly, lovestruck Kirby (Emilio Estavez) is back in love with his old crush, Dale Biberman (Andie MacDowell), who is now a doctor, while he is pining for law school. It's a unique plot executed decently.



ACTING:The acting was pretty good. The most detailed part would have to have been played by Demi Moore as the troubled Jules. She did really well, but not too spectacular. A lot of the Breakfast Club group was in here, such as Emilio Estavez, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy, and they all played great roles as Kirby, Alex, and Leslie. The other shiners would be Mare Winnigham as Wendy, Rob Lowe as Billy, and Andrew McCarthy as Kevin.

SCORE:The score was very well done by David Foster, and the theme is one of the things about the movie that actually does remain memorable.



OTHER CONTENT:This 80s classic isn't as good as some of the others, such as Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, but it still isn't terrible. It has a handful of deep substantial scenes and represents a pretty good drama, but it's really jumbled up and underdeveloped. It's hard to tell the characters apart for a while considering emotions, and the dramatics all run together at one point and it just seems to come off as a mess, but it's not by far the worst 80s classic I've seen.

OVERALL,a good 80s classic with a decent plot, good acting, memorable score, some deep scenes and good drama, but it jumbles up at points and is very underdeveloped in scenes.