St. Elmo's Fire (1985) review

Recent Georgetown graduates still hanging around D.C. (even though it was filmed at the University of Maryland) struggle to find their way forward: Alec (Judd Nelson) and Leslie (Ally Sheedy) are "in love" but he can't stop cheating, future attorney Kirby (Emilio Estevez) is infatuated with medical student Dale (Andie MacDowell), writer Kevin (Andrew McCarthy) has a secret he's keeping from the group, Billy (Rob Lowe) is a deadbeat dad who would rather play the saxophone, coke fiend Jules (Demi Moore) is sleeping with her boss, and so on.  While it's true that the pomposity and sense of entitlement emanating from the bratty cast is a bit tough to take at times, the reality is that a lot of individuals in their early 20's behave precisely like this, stuck in emotional purgatory where they want to cling desperately to the Freedom of Youth and not have to deal with the difficult responsibilities of adulthood - Moore's attempt to "freeze herself to death" is a fitting (if overdramatic) visual metaphor.  Later movies inspired by it - I'm thinking of Kicking & Screaming in particular - may be smarter and wittier, but I have to give credit to Schumacher (who was 46 when this was made) and co-screenwriter Carl Kurlander for looking at their own misspent youthful years with a combination of loathing and acceptance.