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Back to the Bratpack
reviewed by
Lebby Eyres
uploaded: 12-10-2004
There are certain things in life that just make us feel old: discovering the person you sit next to at work was born in the eighties; seeing 18 year olds wear ra-ra skirts without a hint of irony and, finally, having to watch the boy banders you adored aged 13 turn up on telly looking all pouchy...
Watching Duran Duran being interviewed by Jonathan Ross last week was a weird experience. It was like being a teenager again, curled up on the sofa in front of Saturday Superstore, wondering who was better looking and wishing Simon Le Bon would get a life. Hearing them sing Save A Prayer was even eerier. It definitely sends a shiver of nostalgic pleasure down the spine, but also leaves you feeling about 103.
It’s the same when old eighties movies turn up on telly. There’s no doubt that a bit of nostalgia is fun, but at some point you have to ask yourself whether it’s really worth watching that shite again just so you can fondly remember that girlie trip to the cinema aged 14 which ended up with you being followed home by a group of teenage boys? Well, is it?
Let’s cast our minds back. There’s The Breakfast Club; St Elmo’s Fire; The Outsiders; Desperately Seeking Susan. And many, many, many more that we won’t touch on, mostly made by John Hughes and starring Molly Ringwald.
Some can be acquitted straight away. Yes, it’s okay to watch The Breakfast Club. It’s eighties but not cringeably so. The teen stereotypes shut up for Saturday suspension are just the same as the ones you’ll find trundling through The O.C., for instance, only better, because back then you could be a ging-er (Molly), have a big nose (Judd Nelson) or a ridiculously whiny voice (Emilio Estevez) and still make it in the movies.
As for Desperately Seeking Susan, even if Aidan Quinn weren’t reason enough to watch, it’s also the only film ever made with Madonna in which she performs passably well. The Outsiders can be passed for this reason and this reason only: its cast list is a who’s who of sexy Bratpack males: Matt Dillon; Tom Cruise; Rob Lowe; C Thomas Howell; Emilio Estevez; Patrick Swayze; Ralph Macchio; Leif Garrett. And Diane Lane for the boys.
And then there’s… St Elmo’s Fire. Another ensemble movie with an impressive eighties cast list – Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham and Andie MacDowell. But is there really any reason to get this out on video? Sadly, and believe me it really hurts to say this, the answer is no.
Rob Lowe plays a jerk. Demi a coke-head. Ally a goody-goody. Judd a playboy. Andrew a wimp. Mare a virgin. Andie a sexy doctor. There’s lots of saxophone. A terrible soundtrack with the worst, rather than best, kind of eighties music. That stupid ‘booga-booga’ thing. Characters who are having a bad time coming to terms with leaving college, but get over it by upgrading the bar they drink in. And… that’s it.
So just stick to The Breakfast Club. Otherwise your nostalgic pleasure will very soon turn to pain.
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| "Jules, y'know, honey... this isn't real. You know what it is? 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" Rob Lowe, St Elmo's Fire
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