s.g.miles Review of St. Elmo's Fire

St. Elmo's Fire (1985)

A gear change in life that is too often over looked

[7/10 · 23 May 2018]

I enjoyed this movie when it was released I enjoy it even more now for different reasons. In my teens it was fascinating and focused on decisions I would be making in a few years. In my 40s there's a poignant melancholy as I remember very similar situations faced by my own group of hometown friends. All of the individual components of the film are solid with my only negative criticism being the slightly overblown intensity of some of the relationships. It's all very much a 6 out of 10 experience, but what elevates to a 7 for me is one particular scene that still resonates powerfully... In the film the characters have a regular table at their favourite bar. The last scene of the movie sees them standing outside the bar looking at a younger crowd at 'their' table. The characters linger for only a moment as they explain they each have various reasons for not going for a beer. I had exactly this experience the week before I left home to work overseas and start my career. This scene punches me hard, I miss those days and 'our' table in that bar