Andrew McCarthy has some time on his hands. So, he’s decided to tackle the most pressing question of all. What was it like to be in “The Brat Pack”? In order to do this, he has to track down a bunch of people he barely knows and hasn’t seen in years, all so Hulu has more content. Well, that and he also had a lot of free time.
Andrew starts out in a very home video setting, starting off by explaining his premise from his perspective, and interspersing it with hopeful phone messages for people who were generally recognized as members of The Brat Pack. The rest of the film is him bouncing around, getting some small wisdom from peers like Emilio Estévez, Rob Lowe, and Demi Moore, along with film experts, cultural historians, and the actual journalist responsible for coining the phrase.
It feels so much like a home video that Andrew had no funding for, but got enough people to comment on it that it made for a film. There’s even a scene where he tries to explain what he’s doing to a drive thru employee. With all the people he talks to, and all the people mentioned, Anthony Michael Hall’s total exclusion seems odd, though he’s not the only member not to participate.
These guys mostly resented the label, as they wanted to do serious work, and being grouped together simply because they appeared in films like St. Elmo’s Fire and The breakfast Club doesn’t necessarily mean that was all they were. Some admit that after the label, they spent most of that time avoiding other Brat packers, who all made conscious choices to avoid one another so they could maybe be seen as independent.
This thing does have audio description, and it is a documentary, so I was almost willing to give it a pass. i ended up reading a lot about his shots, and how they are somewhat sloppily put together and edited. For example, he clearly does interviews where the secondary camera is visible. I’m not sure he’s the person to make this, and to ask the tough question, and the wrong.
I would say that if you lovE THE BRAT PACK, AND GREW UP IN THIS TIME PERIOD, WITH THESE FILMS, YOU WILL PROBABLY ENJOY.
Final GRADE: B-
