I thought the Documentary wasn't as good as it should have been and made Andrew McCarthy (who has a fine career as a director) come off a bit whiny. It's also tough to judge because Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, and Anthony Michael Hall declined to participate. The one-on-one interviews start to become redundant with everyone almost recycling the same sentiment made by each other.
Rob Lowe comes off well, and that's because he is the one person who is so well adjusted to the ebbs and flows of his career and has taken stock of fame throughout the last 40 years. Not to mention he's part of that very successful Parks and Rec. crew. (Side-Note, I think the reason the Parks gang is so successful post-Parks is obviously talent-related, but also Parks was perpetually under the radar while it aired which allowed its cast to break out in other roles once the series came to an end. Also, they don't seem to be dicks).
I don't know what would have made the documentary better, maybe if just focused on AMC more directly, meaning instead of traveling around to each person casually mentioned, he should have examined his own career and the choices he made post St. Elmo's Fire. My entire perception of him comes from the two Weekend at Bernie's movies and those weird cut-away gags in Muppet Babies. where a baby Ms. Piggy would horndog out on him... which really how was that a thing?
Part of the problem with that article was that it was a betrayal on the part of the author.
You should check out "You Couldn't Forget Me If You Tried" by Susannah Gora.
It goes into a lot of detail about that whole thing, including some statements by the author of the article. By his own admission he wanted to take these young, hot, popular actors down a peg.
And McCarthy never really got in with them because he took himself too seriously. He did these teen comedies even though he felt they were beneath him.
Forgive this wall of text, I've been wanting to talk to people about this for days! I am -- like many -- pretty fascinated by the Brat Pack and was very interested in this, but I wish McCarthy hadn't helmed it. I admire his interest in really unpacking it -- whether personally useful and necessary for him -- or just looking for a later in life chance to make some art and say something meaningful. Unfortunately, he didn't really have the skills to do this the way it deserved/needed to be done. Or perhaps he just wasn't willing to upset the apple cart as much as he needed to in order to get to some more powerful truth (or at least something more interesting?)
I was impressed that he actually interviewed the writer of the article and then chided myself -- Kelly! -- that should be the bare minimum in a documentary like this! I realized I was impressed simply because everything else was such a softball that my expectations had plummeted.
But I will give him credit for one thing -- about 30 (?) minutes in -- the whole thing was starting to feel VERY "insanely rich wildly privileged people whining about a minor thing they suffered while on top of the world in a way almost nobody ever gets to be" -- and he must have realized it during filming and course corrected, because just as it started to become unbearable and very much NOT relatable, he pivoted, and I think it saved the doc from becoming an unmitigated disaster.
But I do wish we'd had someone in there more willing to get their hands dirty and maybe upset their friends a little bit. All that said, it was amazing how clear it was at the end that, in life, attitude and perspective is nearly everything. Moore and Lowe took Brat Pack and turned it into an asset just by how they viewed it -- McCarthy let it haunt him. I wish I was a Moore/Lowe, but I too am a McCarthy. Sigh.
I think Emilio was the source. In his follow up article “I Called Them Brats, and I Stand by It” Blum mentions Emilio “trash-talking actors like Andrew McCarthy”
I think their issue with being associated with the “Brat Pack” comes back around to your point on their careers being stunted. When you think of the Brat Pack, you associate it specifically with those 80s teen (and very young adult) movies. A lot of those actors never really broke out of those roles as far as public opinion goes, so for them, admitting that their career plateau’d 40 something years ago probably feels embarrassing and sad.
Also, the current iteration of the group is called the “MineCraft Pack”— with a roster coming from Euphoria and Stranger Things. Don’t fact check that plz.
man, this neatly sums up how I felt about that whole doc. Emilio's body language throughout those segments was SO telling. this could have been such a fascinating story but I think it missed a few marks. and the phone call at the end? what the hell? give us Judd Nelson or NOT AT ALL.
I think they got the pun just didn’t like it. Didn’t want to be associated with being a brat. It’s not a good look at the beginning of your career.
On the whole I enjoyed the doc. Yes I feel it could have pushed the envelope more and that Andrew is a bit of a sap. But I like it. I like his sweetness and his vulnerability to open up with people you haven’t spoken to in a long time. I liked that he confronted the author of the article but I didn’t like that he hugged him in the end. And furthermore he didn’t address the points you laid out about the article. And lastly I didn’t like how it ended. It felt incomplete like there was going to be a second episode or something.
But I’d definitely recommend seeing it. I found it a fun trip down memory lane.
Brat Pack was a clever nickname and cleverness sticks so really the entire issue is with people’s weird affection for phrases that rhyme. (See: God/Eve/Steve, Shock Jock, Wacko Jacko, etc.)
And I'm pretty sure that entire doc is just about Andrew McCarthy's embarrassment at starring in "Weekend at Bernie's."
It almost seems like a failed nickname or title given to oneself. We will call ourselves the Brat-pack! Yeah, great idea! Hand me another Bartles and Jaymes!
I really thought that a lot of being in the bratpack was related to them hanging out outside of filming. Like the rat pack historically did. Which is why I find it weird that Tom Cruise would be included, because I don’t ever remember him spending social time with the rest of these actors…
I thought the Documentary wasn't as good as it should have been and made Andrew McCarthy (who has a fine career as a director) come off a bit whiny. It's also tough to judge because Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, and Anthony Michael Hall declined to participate. The one-on-one interviews start to become redundant with everyone almost recycling the same sentiment made by each other.
Rob Lowe comes off well, and that's because he is the one person who is so well adjusted to the ebbs and flows of his career and has taken stock of fame throughout the last 40 years. Not to mention he's part of that very successful Parks and Rec. crew. (Side-Note, I think the reason the Parks gang is so successful post-Parks is obviously talent-related, but also Parks was perpetually under the radar while it aired which allowed its cast to break out in other roles once the series came to an end. Also, they don't seem to be dicks).
I don't know what would have made the documentary better, maybe if just focused on AMC more directly, meaning instead of traveling around to each person casually mentioned, he should have examined his own career and the choices he made post St. Elmo's Fire. My entire perception of him comes from the two Weekend at Bernie's movies and those weird cut-away gags in Muppet Babies. where a baby Ms. Piggy would horndog out on him... which really how was that a thing?
Part of the problem with that article was that it was a betrayal on the part of the author.
You should check out "You Couldn't Forget Me If You Tried" by Susannah Gora.
It goes into a lot of detail about that whole thing, including some statements by the author of the article. By his own admission he wanted to take these young, hot, popular actors down a peg.
And McCarthy never really got in with them because he took himself too seriously. He did these teen comedies even though he felt they were beneath him.
Forgive this wall of text, I've been wanting to talk to people about this for days! I am -- like many -- pretty fascinated by the Brat Pack and was very interested in this, but I wish McCarthy hadn't helmed it. I admire his interest in really unpacking it -- whether personally useful and necessary for him -- or just looking for a later in life chance to make some art and say something meaningful. Unfortunately, he didn't really have the skills to do this the way it deserved/needed to be done. Or perhaps he just wasn't willing to upset the apple cart as much as he needed to in order to get to some more powerful truth (or at least something more interesting?)
I was impressed that he actually interviewed the writer of the article and then chided myself -- Kelly! -- that should be the bare minimum in a documentary like this! I realized I was impressed simply because everything else was such a softball that my expectations had plummeted.
But I will give him credit for one thing -- about 30 (?) minutes in -- the whole thing was starting to feel VERY "insanely rich wildly privileged people whining about a minor thing they suffered while on top of the world in a way almost nobody ever gets to be" -- and he must have realized it during filming and course corrected, because just as it started to become unbearable and very much NOT relatable, he pivoted, and I think it saved the doc from becoming an unmitigated disaster.
But I do wish we'd had someone in there more willing to get their hands dirty and maybe upset their friends a little bit. All that said, it was amazing how clear it was at the end that, in life, attitude and perspective is nearly everything. Moore and Lowe took Brat Pack and turned it into an asset just by how they viewed it -- McCarthy let it haunt him. I wish I was a Moore/Lowe, but I too am a McCarthy. Sigh.
I think Emilio was the source. In his follow up article “I Called Them Brats, and I Stand by It” Blum mentions Emilio “trash-talking actors like Andrew McCarthy”
I think their issue with being associated with the “Brat Pack” comes back around to your point on their careers being stunted. When you think of the Brat Pack, you associate it specifically with those 80s teen (and very young adult) movies. A lot of those actors never really broke out of those roles as far as public opinion goes, so for them, admitting that their career plateau’d 40 something years ago probably feels embarrassing and sad.
Also, the current iteration of the group is called the “MineCraft Pack”— with a roster coming from Euphoria and Stranger Things. Don’t fact check that plz.
man, this neatly sums up how I felt about that whole doc. Emilio's body language throughout those segments was SO telling. this could have been such a fascinating story but I think it missed a few marks. and the phone call at the end? what the hell? give us Judd Nelson or NOT AT ALL.
I think they got the pun just didn’t like it. Didn’t want to be associated with being a brat. It’s not a good look at the beginning of your career.
On the whole I enjoyed the doc. Yes I feel it could have pushed the envelope more and that Andrew is a bit of a sap. But I like it. I like his sweetness and his vulnerability to open up with people you haven’t spoken to in a long time. I liked that he confronted the author of the article but I didn’t like that he hugged him in the end. And furthermore he didn’t address the points you laid out about the article. And lastly I didn’t like how it ended. It felt incomplete like there was going to be a second episode or something.
But I’d definitely recommend seeing it. I found it a fun trip down memory lane.
Brat Pack was a clever nickname and cleverness sticks so really the entire issue is with people’s weird affection for phrases that rhyme. (See: God/Eve/Steve, Shock Jock, Wacko Jacko, etc.)
And I'm pretty sure that entire doc is just about Andrew McCarthy's embarrassment at starring in "Weekend at Bernie's."
Wrote more about it here: https://mattruby.substack.com/p/attack-your-enemies-not-your-allies
It almost seems like a failed nickname or title given to oneself. We will call ourselves the Brat-pack! Yeah, great idea! Hand me another Bartles and Jaymes!
Nicely observed.
I really thought that a lot of being in the bratpack was related to them hanging out outside of filming. Like the rat pack historically did. Which is why I find it weird that Tom Cruise would be included, because I don’t ever remember him spending social time with the rest of these actors…