St. Elmo's Fire (film)
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| St. Elmo's Fire | |
|---|---|
 St. Elmo's Fire theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Joel Schumacher |
| Produced by | Lauren Shuler Donnor Ned Tanen (executive producer) Bernard Schwartz (executive producer) |
| Written by | Joel Schumacher Carl Kurlander |
| Starring | Emilio Estevez Demi Moore Andrew McCarthy Judd Nelson Mare Winningham Andie MacDowell Jenny Wright |
| Music by | David Foster |
| Cinematography | Stephen H. Burum |
| Editing by | Richard Marks |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 28, 1985 |
| Running time | 110 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
St. Elmo's Fire, released in 1985 (see 1985 in film), is one of the defining movies of the 1980s brat pack genre. Its major stars, slick editing and production and its soundtrack made it a financial (although not a critical) success.
This coming-of-age film revolves around a group of friends that have just graduated from Georgetown University and their adjustment to their post-university lives, the quarter-life crisis, and the responsibilities of encroaching adulthood.
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[edit] Main characters
- Kirby "Kirbo" Keger (Emilio Estevez) - He's a waiter at "St. Elmo's" bar with hopes of becoming a lawyer and lives with his former college friend Kevin Dolenz. He has developed an obsession with a woman he met in college after a recent encounter with her, and is willing to do anything to impress her, including changing his career.
- Billy Hicks (Rob Lowe) - The "frat boy" of the group, he is unable to keep a job but has a great talent for playing the saxophone. He is a reluctant husband & father at the beginning of the film, but rarely goes home to sleep. He misses college days and feels a bit lost in the after-college work life. Wendy is especially supportive of his musical talents and they have romantic feelings for each other which seem to be beneath the surface at first. Along with the problems in his marriage, he's a wild guy and a ladies' man.
- Kevin Dolenz (Andrew McCarthy) - a writer with a sullen streak whom Leslie says "just needs to fall in love." His writing job only allows him to write obituaries, but he's searching for the meaning of life and is working hard towards writing an article about it. He is secretly in love with someone he's known for years. He rooms with his pal Kirby Keger, bangs on his bongos and wears shades while listening to Aretha Franklin sing "Respect" on his stereo, and smokes.
- Jules Jacoby (Demi Moore) - The "party girl" of the group, with an extravagant and wild lifestyle. Jules used to be Leslie Hunter's roommate and is still her best friend. She has a very fancy, highly decorated apartment and works in banking. She loves a good time, but she's also looking for the love she struggled to find growing up; her father is emotionally distant and he's had many wives. She's also feeling a lot of pressures to take care of a family financial issue (her "stepmonster" as she calls her, who was cruel to her as a child, is terminally ill) and to handle her own finances after a crisis happens in her life.
- Alec Newbary (Judd Nelson) - a ruthless, ambitious yuppie and young Democrat, pursuing a career in politics and desperate to marry Leslie. Everyone's surprised when he starts working for a Republican senator. At the start of the film, he has just moved in with Leslie and is still fixing their place up. He sees Leslie as someone who can help him get where he wants to go.
- Leslie Hunter (Ally Sheedy) - Alec's yuppie girlfriend who wants to pursue a career as an architect before marrying and having children. She's a romantic, and also seems to be trying to get more of a sense of who she is before sharing her life completely with a man; possibly in order to not lose her sense of self later. She lives with Alec, but is starting to feel doubts about her relationship with him.
- Wendy Beamish (Mare Winningham) - a girl from a wealthy family, the "innocent" of the group who devotes her life to helping others. She works in Social Services. Wendy is trying to break away from her family's overprotectiveness, move out on her own, and assert her independence, particularly from her father, who is pressuring her to marry the man of his choice. She, however, is in love with Billy Hicks, whom she knows her father will never consider suitable for her.
The film also features Andie MacDowell as Dale Biberman, a hospital intern and the object of Kirby's attraction.
[edit] Plot
The film opens with a dream-like montage of the seven main characters, in full graduation uniform, walking along their campus, then quickly cuts to a hospital scene. Billy, while driving with Wendy, has crashed her car. Neither of them are seriously hurt, but her car is destroyed, and Billy is arrested for drunk driving. At the hospital, Kirby sees a medical student named Dale, with whom he has been infatuated since college. The group later meets up at their favorite hang out, St. Elmo’s Bar. Alec chastises Billy for losing yet another one of the jobs that Alec had obtained for Billy, and dunks Billy’s head into a toilet.
Alec (at his and Leslie’s studio apartment), tells Leslie he is trying to get a better-paying job, even though it means switching political parties. He pressures Leslie to marry him. Jules visits, and complains that she will probably have to pay for her stepmother’s funeral, whom she scornfully calls her “step-monster”.
At Kevin and Kirby’s apartment, Kirby tells Kevin of his love for Dale. Kevin feels that “love is an illusion”. Billy later comes over to stay, saying he can’t deal with his wife.
After a shopping trip with the girls, Jules invites Kevin over to her expensively furnished apartment. Kevin is incredulous at its extravagance. Jules asks Kevin why he has never made a pass at her, and accuses him of being gay and in denial. Infuriated, Kevin storms out.
Kirby arrives early at a restaurant to ensure everything his perfect for a date he has arranged with Dale. She arrives, but is immediately called back to the hospital. Meanwhile, Jules is unable to collect her paycheck, having been overdrawn on her salary by two months.
Kevin visits Alec and Leslie for dinner. Alec confesses to Kevin that while buying lingerie for Leslie, he had sex with the lingerie saleswoman. Alec says that if Leslie would marry him, he would be faithful, while Kevin again disdains the whole idea of marriage.
Kevin, in an encounter with a prostitute, asks her why she has never tried to solicit him. She responds that she thought he was gay, to which he replies that he is in love with someone, but does not say who.
Jules calls Alec in the middle of the night, saying that she's been partying with a group of men who are Arab, who have cocaine, and have been "forcing her to do coke all night"; though she really means she felt tempted to take drugs and she gave in. High and unable to decipher their language, she becomes unnerved when she thinks she hears one of the men say "gang bang." Alec “rescues” Jules from the hotel room, but says that the men there "hardly seem like the gang banger type," as they are laughing and jovial with MTV playing in the background. Feeling the need for company and attention, Jules asks Alec to stay with her at her apartment, but he says he can't because he has to work early the next morning. So she calls a good looking guy she knows for comfort, and Alec makes a joke. Alec offers to drop her off at home instead because it's late, but she insists on not wanting to be alone that night and wanting to act on her "buzz," so he leaves.
Billy visits Wendy at the welfare office where she works, having lost yet another job. He later has an awkward dinner at her house with her relatives. Wendy borrows more money from her father (to give to Billy), who pressures her to get married. While drunk, Billy climbs onto the roof, and Wendy follows him. They discuss after-college life and also suicide, and Wendy reveals she is a virgin. They later kiss on the couch, but he upsets her and she tells him they should not see each other anymore. As Billy departs her parents' house, he leaves the money Wendy gave him on the staircase.
During Halloween at St. Elmo’s Bar, Jules reveals to Leslie that she is having an affair with her (married) boss. Meanwhile, Billy is playing saxophone wildly for the crowd. He sees his wife with another man in the crowd and attacks him. Billy is fired and thrown out of the bar. Outside, he and his wife fight, then kiss.
Kevin sees the prostitute again. She tries to pick him up but he says he does not pay for sex.
The girls have lunch at the soup kitchen where Wendy is working. Wendy and Leslie confront Jules over the affair she is having with her boss. She tells them not to worry and quickly leaves.
Billy, who is house-sitting for Mr. Kim, a wealthy Korean businessman, is caught by his boss in his hot-tub with a woman and fired.
In drenching rain, Kirby follows Dale to a house party, and reveals his feelings for her. She tries to rebuff him, but fails. Kirby wrongly believes he simply has to earn more money to earn her affection.
Billy returns to his old frat house at the college, plays ball and asks for a job there, only to find that he has some difficulty being taken seriously. He visits his wife and baby. She says she wants an annulment so she can marry her previous boyfriend. Billy refuses this, promising he will change.
Kirby takes a job working for Mr. Kim. He tries to impress Dale with his wealthy connections, and invites her to a party he is secretly holding at Mr. Kim’s house. At the party, Wendy attends with a bookish-looking man named Howie, and Jules gets drunk. The other girls agree she is out of control. Billy upsets Wendy when he asks if she’s still a virgin. Alec “announces” to the gathering that he and Leslie are engaged, upsetting her as she had not consented. She confronts him about his infidelity. Enraged, he attacks Kevin, wrongly thinking Kevin had told Leslie about his misbehaviors. Alec demands Leslie move out of their apartment immediately, which devastates Leslie.
After the party, Kirby, who had been desperately trying find Dale during the party, confronts Dale’s roommate, demanding to know where Dale is.
Billy and Jules ride home. They kiss, but Billy wants more. Jules refuses, and throws him out of her car, where he sees his wife, who had witnessed the entire spectacle.
Pursuing Dale, Kirby drives to the ski lodge where she is staying. The door is answered by a man, and Kirby, realizing it is Dale’s boyfriend, angrily runs back to the car in the freezing cold. He tries to drive away but the car becomes stuck in the snow. Dale and her boyfriend finally convince him to come inside.
Leslie, having been kicked out of her apartment, goes over to Kevin’s place to stay. She discovers a box of photographs of her. While they are both drunk, Kevin confesses his love for her, and they make love. The next morning, Alec comes by and apologizes to Kevin for hitting him. Leslie reveals her presence, enraging Alec. In shock and disbelief that his best friend has slept with his former girlfriend, he leaves.
Mr. Kim arrives home, discovering his house strewn with guests and a mess from the party, and demands to know where Kirby is. As Kirby prepares to leave Dale’s cottage, Dale tells him she is flattered by his affections. In a surprising moment, he kisses her, and she does not resist. He drives off, laughing hysterically, his fist raised in triumph.
Wendy meets her father at a café. She tells him that the car that Kirby borrowed (and damaged) is fixed, but wants to return it to her father. She also tells him she does not want to marry Howie, the man her parents arranged her to date, and that she wants to move out. Her father remains calm but is unreceptive and appears disappointed.
Leslie goes over to her apartment to pick up her possessions, and is surprised to find Alec there, not at work. They squabble over the record collection, and fight about their affairs.
Kevin, who had previously been writing only obituaries, succeeds in publishing a major op-ed about the meaning of life. He asks Leslie to move in with him but she refuses. At that point, Alec calls her, and, mishearing the conversation, wrongly thinks she is moving in with Kevin. Leslie, upset from the whole experience, asks Kevin to leave.
In the climax of the film, Leslie asks Alec and the others for help. Leslie reveals that Jules was fired weeks ago, but has been pretending to go to work. Having been unable to make the payments, her car and furniture were repossessed. In shock, Jules has locked herself into her apartment with the windows wide open, admitting the freezing winter air. The boys come over to rescue her, climbing on to the fire escape, and try to blow torch the window bars so they can get through. Alec attacks Kevin again, dangling him over the edge of the fire escape, but with Leslie’s intervention, calms down and pulls Kevin back up. An exhausted Jules finally unlocks her door just as Billy bursts through it. Billy consoles and comforts her, comparing her behavior to St. Elmo’s Fire (that her problems are merely an illusion). She finally laughs, indicating to the others that she is alright.
Wendy moves into her own place, where Billy comes to visit. He says he has finally agreed to divorce his wife, and pays back some of the money he owed Wendy. He also announces he will be moving to New York to go for his dreams and pursue a full time career playing his saxophone. He explains that he'd spent so much time trying to "be like Alec" (meaning being a member of the 9-5 type work world, because it seemed to be expected of him) but it wasn't who he was. His heart has really always been in his music and Wendy of course, who knows him so well, recognizes this as she repeats in the movie, "You're really talented, Billy." He asks her for a "going away present," which turns out to be them making love.
At the bus station, the group says goodbye to Billy as he boards his bus. The opening montage of the group at graduation appears again, bringing the film full circle. Leslie announces that she needs to be alone for awhile, not dating either Alec or Kevin, and the group all agree to be friends and arrange to meet for brunch, but at a different location than St. Elmo’s Bar.
[edit] Notes
The Breakfast Club is another 1985 film starring Estevez, Nelson, and Sheedy. It is noted that in The Breakfast Club, these actors play high school students, while in the same year they play college graduates in St. Elmo's Fire. Both films are now considered cult classics.
The title and subsequent song come from a quote at the climax of the movie, when Billy is comforting Jules: "It's St. Elmo's Fire. Electric flashes of light that appear in dark skies out of nowhere. Sailors would guide entire journeys by it, but the joke was on them... there was no fire. There wasn't even a St. Elmo. They made it up. They made it up because they thought they needed it to keep them going when times got tough, just like you're making up all of this. We're all going through this. It's our time at the edge." However, this quote needs more explanation. St. Elmo's fire is a real, documented phenomenon. The quote "There was no fire" means that it is not really a fire. Instead, it is an electrical phenomenon.
The rest of the quotes turned out to be wrong:
- St. Elmo's fire didn't appear in the sky; rather it gathered around the masts of the ship, thus making it impossible to chart a course by.
- "St. Elmo" was a nickname for Saint Erasmus of Formiae, the patron saint of sailors—a very real person.
[edit] Soundtrack
- The theme song, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)", was written by Canadian composer David Foster[citation needed] and performed by John Parr. This hit song was written for the Canadian athlete Rick Hansen, who at the time was going around the world in his wheelchair to raise awareness for spinal cord injuries. His journey was called the "Man in Motion Tour." The lyrics do relate though to the characters in the movie moving out into a new and exciting, yet a little scary, time in their lives. The analogy of the light or the fire works, in that they're looking for guidance into the unknown, and that a new 'fire' is raging inside of them, of who they're discovering themselves to be. The song "Give Her A Little Drop More," which plays during the movie when they enter St. Elmo's Bar & Restaurant, was written by British jazz trumpeter John Chilton.
[edit] Trivia
- Mare Winningham played a virgin in this film while she was pregnant.
- Rob Lowe won a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor for this film.
- Emilio Estevez had already been a father for a year (he had a son, Taylor Levi, with girlfriend Carey Salley) when this film came out.
- Demi Moore and Emilio Estevez would later go on to starring in Wisdom together, and later on would date.
- The "booga-booga" chant the cast cheers several times throughout the film wasn't scripted. The cast had just started doing it out of habit with each other, and the director felt he could incorporate it into the film to portray the closeness of the group.
- Georgetown University never had any fraternities or sororities. The scenes on campus were filmed at the University of Maryland. In the background people can be seen wearing red and white jackets. Those are the colors of University of Maryland. Georgetown's colors are blue and gray.
[edit] Quotes
- "They thought they'd be friends forever, but forever couldn't last."
- "Men: can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em."
- "You know what love is? 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."
- "There are several quintessential moments in a man's life: losing his virginity, getting married, becoming a father, and having the right girl smile at you."
- "It's St. Elmo's Fire. Electric flashes of light that appear in dark skies out of nowhere. Sailors would guide entire journeys by it, but the joke was on them... there was no fire. There wasn't even a St. Elmo. They made it up. They made it up because they thought they needed it to keep them going when times got tough, just like you're making up all of this. We're all going through this. It's our time at the edge."
