When this film originally came out, I thought it would be a good idea to go to the theatre to see it.
I was wrong. All it did was show me how many OTHER people with bad judgment lived in my home-town.
"St. Elmo's Fire" is one of the most relentlessly narcissistic exercises in shallow self-involvement I have ever seen. And seeing a bunch of kids playing grown-up didn't help matters much, either.
Now, the cast here has done some great things and no doubt will again. But here, all they do is look and act with the kind of smug assurance of a rich kid playing with big toys that you will never have, and smirking all the while.
Every character here is jealous of one another, wants what they have, is never satisfied and makes half-hearted efforts to make the most of what they have. But when what they have is shallow stupidity, that doesn't leave them much to work with.
Estevez fares best as a love-sick dope who follows and tries to woo a pretty doctor (McDowell, the most radiant woman in the whole movie). He actually tries to do something and act on his gut. It works, and so does he.
At least HE still gets pretty steady work.
As for the others... well, let's just say that there's no sense in worrying about a sequel.
One star, for the Estevez story-line. Boola-boola-boola, yuk-yuk-yuk!
I was wrong. All it did was show me how many OTHER people with bad judgment lived in my home-town.
"St. Elmo's Fire" is one of the most relentlessly narcissistic exercises in shallow self-involvement I have ever seen. And seeing a bunch of kids playing grown-up didn't help matters much, either.
Now, the cast here has done some great things and no doubt will again. But here, all they do is look and act with the kind of smug assurance of a rich kid playing with big toys that you will never have, and smirking all the while.
Every character here is jealous of one another, wants what they have, is never satisfied and makes half-hearted efforts to make the most of what they have. But when what they have is shallow stupidity, that doesn't leave them much to work with.
Estevez fares best as a love-sick dope who follows and tries to woo a pretty doctor (McDowell, the most radiant woman in the whole movie). He actually tries to do something and act on his gut. It works, and so does he.
At least HE still gets pretty steady work.
As for the others... well, let's just say that there's no sense in worrying about a sequel.
One star, for the Estevez story-line. Boola-boola-boola, yuk-yuk-yuk!