St. Elmo's Fire

Released Jun 28, 1985

1h 48m

Drama

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for St. Elmo's Fire: Trailer 1

List

42%

Tomatometer

45 Reviews

67%

Audience Score

50,000+ Ratings

A group of recent college graduates embark on a series of misadventures in the real world. There's Kirby (Emilio Estevez), a waiter who wants to be a lawyer; Kevin (Andrew McCarthy), a moody writer who yearns for the wild Jules (Demi Moore) ; Alec (Judd Nelson), whose political aspirations alienate his girlfriend, Leslie (Ally Sheedy) ; and Wendy (Mare Winningham), a quiet girl in love with Billy (Rob Lowe), who juggles roles as husband, dad and drunk. Together they grapple with adulthood.

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Critics Consensus

St. Elmo's Fire is almost peak Brat Pack: it's got the cast, the fashion, and the music, but the characters are too frequently unlikable.

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Derek Malcolm

Guardian

In spite of good playing from talented players like Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy and Ally Sheedy, the film looks more like an up-market version of Porky's than anything more coherent.

Apr 4, 2022

Full Review

Paul Attanasio

Washington Post

These aren't characters -- they're character hooks.

Jan 3, 2018

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Sheila Benson

Los Angeles Times

All speed and stylishness without a bit of emotional resonance beneath.

Jul 13, 2017

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

...St Elmo's Fire is self-absorbed and dull, just like the characters that it depicts. But it's also something of a hoot to see 80's idiocy laid bare like this...

Rated: 3/5

Jun 8, 2021

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...familiar territory that is, for the most part, employed to underwhelming effect...

Rated: 2/4

May 20, 2021

Full Review

Christopher Lloyd

The Film Yap

Savaged when it was released, is it time for a reconsidering St. Elmo's Fire, a retrograde look at '80s single life? No. No, it's not.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 28, 2020

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Calvin R

It started out OK, but degraded quickly. My wife and I couldn't finish watching it.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/23/24

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Craig B

St. Elmo’s Fire… should have been, what it could have been.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/21/24

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Vivienne T

Resonates with the coming of age genre - we all make mistakes in our youth- and I love the music.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/21/24

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Diana P

Not only is this movie boring, it also manages to serve up societal no no’s such as stalking, drunk driving, and sexual harassment - trying to make them all look cute/normal. I saw this movie in the theater when it came out in 1985. It never sat right with me then. Forty years later, it still doesn’t sit right with me now.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/18/24

Full Review

Wayne K

St. Elmo's Fire is essentially the Avengers Assemble of Brat Pack flicks, in that it has more members of the group than any other film before or since. A breakthrough movie for Joel Schumacher and much of the cast, it received a lukewarm reception back in its day, with much criticism focusing on the unlikability of the characters. I guess no one told them that characters need to be flawed in order to be interesting. I definitely didn't think that they were too unlikeable. All have their own unique shortcomings, and the film explores how this affects their day to day lives. At its heart, the film is about how the biggest problems in our lives are invariably the ones that we create for ourselves, whether we're too hesitant to take a opportunity when its presented, or squander it through arrogance or carelessness. We sabotage relationships out of spite or stupidity, and we blame others for our own errors. It's a mostly plotless film, being more of a character study, and even though its hard to remember names to begin with, the time we spend with our leads allows us to familiarise and empathise with them and their various situations. There's other films that do this better, even films made around this time, but if you can get past how long it feels at times, I think its earnesty and unpretentiousness will win you over.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/28/24

Full Review

Ma'ark T

The only thing this movie has going for it is the snapshot back into the mid-80s (oh and the live saxophone scene is great!). It's a pretty boring script for a coming-of-age film about a group of very unlikeable people. It really did not age well either.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/09/24

Full Review

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Joel Schumacher

Director

Rob Lowe

Billy Hicks

Demi Moore

Jules

Andrew McCarthy

Kevin Dolenz

Judd Nelson

Alec Newbary

Ally Sheedy

Leslie Hunter

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St. Elmo's Fire: Official Clip - Jules Freaks Out