Review by C.J. Bunce
The new documentary Brats is one man’s look at a reference in New York Magazine that changed his life. Remember the Brat Pack? You hadn’t heard that term prior to 1985, because journalist David Blum hadn’t written an article using that phrase just yet. It was a cover story for New York Magazine, which got picked up by the era’s talk show scene. When you think of the Brat Pack, who do you think of? For me, it’s the cast of The Breakfast Club, the first R-rated “drama” I saw in the theater as a teen. When I walked out of the movie I had one thought: None of the characters were good guys, all a bunch of rich-kid, spoiled brats. Did you know Andrew McCarthy was in the Brat Pack? I didn’t, but he directed the documentary, which is really no more than an effort to create one of those anniversary magazine cover photo stories you’ve seen for things like the 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. McCarthy doesn’t get the team back together, but it’s an excuse to see a few familiar faces we haven’t seen in a while being interviewed at their homes. Brats is now streaming on Hulu.
McCarthy, who was in St. Elmo’s Fire, another frequently referenced Brat Pack assemblage, interviewed Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy, Timothy Hutton, Lea Thompson, and Jon Cryer for his story. Hutton, Thompson, and Cryer don’t claim membership in the Pack, but discussed the term and people involved. Hutton, who won the Academy Award for Ordinary People, is cited by McCarthy as the impetus for young people taken seriously in the 1980s for their acting.
McCarthy, who was quoted years ago as saying he was not a member of the Brat Pack, now seems haunted by the phrase. He said he hadn’t seen some of the actors since the premiere of St. Elmo’s Fire, more than 35 years ago. Because he makes himself the subject of the documentary, it misses most of the key elements a documentary by a serious journalist would have ferreted out. The very subject of who, exactly, journalists and audiences considered to be in the Brat Pack is glossed over. Ask anyone and they’ll probably include Anthony Michael Hall, co-star and narrator of The Breakfast Club in their short list. Tom Cruise is only briefly joked about, yet he was in both Taps with Hutton and The Outsiders with Lowe, Estevez, and many others, including the most utilized young actor of the day in movies, Matt Dillon.
The exclusion of these actors raises questions about what the term meant and did for the actors tagged as “Brats.” Dillon and Hall, along with Mare Winningham, were already known in Hollywood by 1985. Interestingly Melissa Gilbert, who dated Lowe and Estevez, has been affiliated with the group, and she would have been a good interview subject. Were the known commodities exempt from the negative connotation–young, cocky actors, who saw some quick fame but somehow hadn’t paid their dues yet? And were the uber-successful names like Tom Cruise exempt as well?
Demi Moore would, a decade after St. Elmo’s Fire, rise to become the highest paid actress in the industry. Although her success isn’t even addressed in the documentary–clearly she was the big box office winner out of the Pack–Moore’s career didn’t seem negatively affected by the term at all. Although the terms she uses when chatting with McCarthy sound like someone very familiar with therapy, she is the one interviewee who seems to have the smartest grasp on the whole situation, basically guiding McCarthy to not let other people tell him how to feel about himself.
Estevez appears gracious, Lowe appears just like he does on the screen as Mr. Positive, and Ally Sheedy is refreshing as that old friend everyone had or wishes they had. McCarthy spends some wasted time trying to track down Judd Nelson and Molly Ringwald, who do not appear in the documentary. McCarthy, an actor interviewing actors, stays clear of mentioning any scandals that rocked some of the Pack’s key “members” over the years–and how that tied to the cocky element of the label–something a journalist would not have skipped over. After co-starring in Mannequin and Weekend at Bernie’s, McCarthy didn’t seem to get the supporting TV roles until 1980s nostalgia became a thing. Individual career decisions seem to be the factor behind the Brat Pack’s myriad futures, but ultimately the label didn’t really bring any actors down.
It’s worth noting that Estevez had financial success after St. Elmo’s Fire with the Young Guns and Disney’s The Mighty Ducks film series, Moore had hits like Ghost, with the too-early-for the label Patrick Swayze, and A Few Good Men, probably the best legacy of the group. Lowe’s biggest would be supporting roles in Wayne’s World and Tommy Boy, doing most of his work on the small screen. Lowe, Hall, Sheedy, Ringwald, and Nelson, are “working actors” who never seemed to stop appearing on the screen in supporting roles. Audiences already knew Ally Sheedy from her co-starring role in WarGames, but she also had Short Circuit at the height of the Pack era. Hall possibly broke out more than the rest, beginning early on with National Lampoon’s Vacation, Sixteen Candles, and Weird Science, making his way for a season on Saturday Night Live with Robert Downey, Jr., and later several movie appearances including The Dark Knight and Halloween Kills. All of these would get celebrated in nostalgia-heavy TV series, including Psych, The Dead Zone, Medium, Community, and Parks and Recreation.
Brats has a good finish, as McCarthy interviews David Blum, writer of the article that tagged the actors with the Brat Pack label. He doesn’t have much of a poker face, and Blum was brave to make the appearance. Despite McCarthy’s efforts, Blum neither apologizes nor backs down about his article, who he says reflects the times of the writer and the interview subjects. “Sticks and stones,” as Blum says, really sums up the whole thing well.
Whatever eye rolls or cringe you feel for the era, you probably have some nostalgia vibes, too. In college I remember hanging out with my own group at Georgetown’s The Tombs, a night spot with good sports bar food, the long-running 18th century restaurant used for the St. Elmo’s Fire bar in the movie. It’s not a great documentary but worth a look, depending on your own nostalgia factor. Andrew McCarthy’s Brats is now streaming on Hulu.
