Beautiful, moving film.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Yeah, if you ever had a train wreck group of friends in your twenties....I wanted to hate this movie, but I just can't. I thought I had it all figured out, and was met with a series of fails time and time again. It wasn't pretty, and neither was these peoples lives post grad and post not fun childhoods. Yeah some of us had parents who bought us cars and paid the rent sometimes, but do we need bleed? The criticism aimed at this movie that these people were shallow because they have money.....IS A SHALLOW CRITIQUE. Simply because having money or not having it has nothing to do with the person you become. If anything it could exacerbate problems. A cringe inducing movie but fun. The music is terrible! That poor sax. Has this person never heard of Stan Getz? If anyone else was a confused wreck in their twenties, its kinda hard to hate! I liiiikee a giirl whooo driiiinkkksss!

St. Elmo's Fire (1985) ** (out of 4) Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy and Mare Winningham are seven friends who graduate and soon realize that being adults isn't nearly as much fun as they thought. We follow their various ups and downs with much drama in between.ST. ELMO'S FIRE has a rather amazing cast and especially when you look back on the picture. Not only do you have the seven main leads but there's also Martin Balsam and Andie MacDowell so there's no denying the star power. I've never really liked this picture yet for some reason I usually go back and revisit it ever so often. Obviously the main reason to watch the picture is because of the terrific cast and I thought all of them delivered great performances. It's just too bad they weren't given much to work with.As I get older I think these characters are all the more shallow. Some might say they were people in their 20s so they were supposed to be annoying and shallow but I don't buy that at all. To me the characters are very poorly written here and there's just no real development with any of them. None of them are very believable and for the most part they are all single motivated characters with no development and there's not much charm to any of them. It's really too bad because the cast is excellent but they just didn't have anything here. You can watch any of these actors in much better films from this period.The film remains watchable thanks to the cast but when the final credits come on you can't help but think you've just wasted your time. I mean, this cast ends up with these results? It's really a shame but there's more issues than just the screenplay. I'd argue that Joel Schumacher's direction is pretty bland and there's nothing good looking about the picture. You do get a great score and a catchy main song but none of this is enough to save the picture.

The film is aware of this(which always makes it considerably easier to tolerate), and it doesn't pretend that those are attractive traits. No, they are not necessarily likable; however, they are relatively interesting to follow. Think Election. And the things they go through are quite easy to recognize. Life after high school, love vs. obsession, relationship issues and dealing with various problems that young people face are dealt with, and it comes across pretty convincing and genuine. It can be funny here and there, when it goes for it, a little of that being black comedy. This is fairly engaging, and there is some tension. There are a few stereotypes in this, such as the presentation of a gay man; meanwhile, when you look at how the straight people in this are, it would have stood out more(as Joel points out in the informative and amusing director's commentary on the DVD; it also comes with theatrical trailers for About Last Night and Mortal Thoughts) if it had been toned down. There's the prostitute and the Jews, as well, I suppose. The acting tends to be spot-on. There is a bit of sexuality(not graphic, only brief nudity) and strong language in this.

There are collections of despicable characters, and then there's St. Elmo's Fire.Kirby (Emilio Estevez): "She is the only evidence of God I have seen with the exception of the mysterious force that removes one sock from the dryer every time I do my laundry." This guy spent a majority of the movie stalking and attempting to sexually assault someone that smiled at him in college. A truly problematic personality that often tends towards illegal activity which is odd since his career aspirations seemed to be in law. I LOVED his Woody Allen paraphernalia all over his apartment, though.Billy (Rob Lowe): "So you lost your job? I've lost twenty of them since graduation. Plus a wife and kid. And, in a new development this morning, a handful of hair in the shower drain." This guy was a real peach. He practically abandoned his wife and child yet wouldn't grant her the divorce she wanted because he was intent on changing, yet, with no steps or methods to do so. Forcing someone to stay legally bound to you is pretty much as low as it gets.Kevin (Andrew McCarthy): "Love, love is an illusion created by lawyer types like yourself to perpetuate another illusion called marriage to create the reality of divorce and then the illusionary need for divorce lawyers." I actually quite enjoyed this character through most the film. Kevin was constantly spouting philosophical views on life and love that were unpopular amongst his friends but taken for what he is. I'm the Kevin in my social circles, that brings Hegel up in casual conversation but never gets to enjoy the level of acceptance his character does. When it is revealed, however, that Kevin isn't speaking from an ascribed philosophical method, but rather because he is brooding and entitled believing his friend to have gotten the girl that was for him, his entire persona is revealed to be a caricature.Alec (Judd Nelson): "Dinosaurs are obsolete. Marriage is still around." This guy was especially infuriating. I've been involved in politics since I was 16, you can't just switch parties because one pays more. I've tried this, no one trusts you since you've been working for the other party so long, plus all your contacts are within that party. Aside from that, this guy repeatedly cheated on his girlfriend because she refused to marry him; I'm sure those two facts were unrelated, though.Jules (Demi Moore): "I don't know why you're both so worried... So, I bop him for a couple of years, get his job when he gets his hands caught in the vault, do a black mink ad, retire in utter disgrace, then write a best seller and be a fabulous host on my own talk show..." Yeah, this is your typical person that everyone knows at least one of that wants to make a lot of money and spend even more money but not work. At one point in the film, she had taken over a month's worth of advancement on her pay to "pinkify" her apartment and buy a lot of clothes. She also used her sexuality to advance her position whenever she could. The film could have made some statement about what she was trying to fill by spending money so irresponsibly but when her arc did reach its climax she was more upset to not have her material possessions anymore, rather than revealing why she felt as though she needed them in the first place. Oh, she also used the adage "you're gay and I know someone that's gay so you two will be perfect for each other" and I just can't adequately describe how much I detest that.Leslie (Ally Sheedy): "Men... Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em." Despite that glowing outlook on a certain subset of the population, this was one of the easier characters to tolerate. Her character almost solely existed as someone else's counterpart which is more than frustrating but that problem rests on the filmmaker than the character. I mean, did she ever talk about anything other than Alec? Barely.Wendy (Mare Winningham): Again, one of the more likable characters which is truly fortunate as I needed some glimmer of something to hang onto in an otherwise dreadful film. Wendy was expected to live at home until she was married which led to her father practically auctioning off the rest of her life to potential suitors. Again, her character arc centered around a man so this will never be considered a feminist film, but Wendy's is one that you can almost feel a bit of sympathy towards.Again, a film doesn't require likable characters, as long as the film own that they're terrible people. It's when a film is asking me to sympathize with characters with no redeeming qualities that problems ensue.