Brats

Andrew McCarthy makes an earnest attempt to put his own struggles with what I always just assumed was a convenient turn of the Sinatra and friend's super cool "Rat Pack" nickname, into an 80s-ready contrivance for a hack reporter to weild as a cudgel against a coterie of successful actors who were younger and more talented than he was, to rest.

And in the end McCarthy does seem to make peace with the 'Brat Pack' moniker and its implications.

Along the way we find out that a few of those talented young actors allowed it to define their very careers and one or two of them are convinced it changed the entire trajectory of their professional lives.

A far more important consideration should be writer/director, John Hughes, and the impact on the Brat Pack's careers and the films that he made that many would agree, defined a generation.

Someone may have already delved into the Hughes' genius and the legacy he left for us to enjoy.

Engaging documentary from actor Andrew McCarthy on the participants in the popular teen movies of the 1980s--actors who are now pushing 60--and how the label "Brat Pack" (taken from the headline in a 1985 New York Magazine article by David Blum, who is interviewed) was possibly a brand, a stigma, a curse, or maybe something special, something that other actors of the time aspired to be a part of. McCarthy, once a pseudo-self-conscious, aloof and somewhat constipated young movie star, took the inspiration for this project from his autobiography, "Brat: An '80s Story"; his feeling for the past 30 years that the term "Brat Pack" was a scathing slap at a certain group of young Hollywood talent circa 1985 isn't unjustified, but his personal wounds--and the sometimes mixed feelings of his contemporaries--are put into perspective here in quickie-therapeutic fashion (aided in its presentation by a bevy of vintage TV clips and interviews). One of the first questions posed is: who was actually in the Brat Pack? I always felt it pertained to select members of the cast of 1985's "St. Elmo's Fire" (not everyone, of course; there's no mention of Mare Winningham, for instance). There's also some suspense in McCarthy's rounding up of interviewees, particularly reluctant stars Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson (both of whom decline the invitation). "Brats" isn't investigative journalism; McCarthy is out to heal personal and professional wounds, and he wants perspective in his journey from Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Jon Cryer, Ally Sheedy, Lea Thompson, Timothy Hutton, writers, producers and directors. McCarthy insists he is not sentimental and he is not nostalgic--but "we" are, and the general catharsis is almost real. **1/2 from ****

From an 80's kids perspective, there were so many young, cool actors that it's easy to lump dozens of people in the mix. Andrew really focuses on "The Breakfast Club" "St Elmo's Fire" and John Hughes creations in general. He really digs his fingers in the sand to find the root of his personal feelings towards the term and also commonalities from the other members. It's interesting to see the wide spectrum of perspectives from the (finger quotes) brats. Some were fine with it, some didn't even want to be included and McCarthy does well in making both points valid.

Documentary films have a specific formula to follow that can make it seem like, sort of, if you've seen one you've seen them all. This one is no different. It really just depends on is the subject matter interesting to you. If you were a kid at the time then yes, these people were rock stars. Ninety minutes feels a bit long, they could have trimmed the fat a bit more. All in all great walk down memory lane. I can almost smell the shopping mall food court, adjacent to the cinema where we dumped quarters into Donkey Kong. Good times.

Like most Gen X, I grew up with the brat pack so this was an interesting look back at the actors and how the name originated.

A lot of the interviews become quite awkward as we see Andrew spend the entire documentary basically lamenting the brat label as though it ruined their lives. Emilio Estevez looks nothing short of uncomfortable as he stands there barely getting a word in other than politely nodding and agreeing.

Malcolm Gladwell's section was quite interesting as he offered some great insight into why the Breakfast Club was as popular as it was, pointing out how there was no social media at the time and the movie was one of the first to show 80s kids something they felt genuinely represented them, and how the idea of being brats was cool to them. The producer Lauren Shulee Donner adds to this idea, finally getting Andrew to see that Brat Pack was something seen as cool to teenagers, while Andrew seems to have spent his life being negatively defined by this term.

Some young actors once celebrated as The Brat Pack, which sounded very cool to us normal kids back then,whine and complain about having been called that name, because it killed their carreers? Oh please, really? Other actors have been labelled this or that, they moved on and proved themselves, and that was it. Nobody thinks of Robert Pattison as the vampire boy anymore, and Kristen Stewart is a regular of independent films. Demi Moore went on to become a very successful A-lister, same for Tom Cruise. If success failed for some others that was probably for other reasons. Also,those films made them very famous opened more doors, made them rich. I loved Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles,The Outsiders and many others. I think they should instead be celebrating the success they had with them, all the young hearts they touched, and how they are still remembered by their legacy.