'St. Elmo's Fire' gets re-ignited

"St. Elmo's Fire," the 1985 movie that birthed the Brat Pack, is back in the spotlight.

That's partly because last month marked the film's 25th anniversary and partly because its director and co-writer, Joel Schumacher, has a new coming-of-age film with a young ensemble cast, "Twelve," in theaters.

Centered on a group of freewheeling, great-looking Georgetown graduates, "St. Elmo's Fire" is best remembered for its unabashedly heightened sense of romance: Think of virginal Mare Winningham giving herself to Rob Lowe, or party girl Demi Moore sitting half-frozen in her fabulous apartment. The film became not only a hit but a cultural touchstone. Still, as Schumacher later recalled, " 'St. Elmo's Fire' did not get one good review in the United States of America."

Critics largely saw it as a shallow yuppie fantasy, and what they hated most were the characters.

" 'St. Elmo's Fire' is about people who go to lunch and feel nostalgic for breakfast," The Washington Post said. "Affluent and unbearably smug," said The New York Times. "Spoiled brat jerks," concluded Gene Siskel at the Chicago Tribune.

In a way, "St. Elmo's Fire" presaged a whole new genre of youth movies and television shows, in which the audience is meant to despise or ridicule the wealthy protagonists. Think "Beverly Hills 90210," "Less Than Zero" and "Gossip Girl." In these works, vitriol and derision almost seem like a mark of success.

"Twelve," about rich kids on drugs, may or may not belong in this category. Once again Schumacher seems sincere in his presentation, and once again critics are howling. "Pretentious emptiness," Salon.com said. Schumacher is probably used to it.