St. Elmo's Fire

St. Elmo's Fire follows seven friends who have recently left Georgetown University and are trying to build adult lives in Washington, D.C. The bar of the title is where they gather, and it is also the place where the comfort of their student years keeps pulling them back. Work, money, romance and ambition begin to divide them: one chases a woman who does not return his feelings, a couple drifts toward breaking up, another friend hides private troubles behind a confident manner, and one young man drinks too much while a social worker quietly loves him. Their loyalty to the group is tested as each of them faces the gap between what they expected of adulthood and what they get.

Joel Schumacher directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Carl Kurlander, and Lauren Shuler Donner produced. It was Schumacher's second film as director, arriving between D.C. Cab and The Lost Boys. The cast includes Andrew McCarthy, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy, with 43 credited performers and 68 credited crew members. Made for about 10 million dollars, it took roughly 38 million worldwide, a strong return. On IMDb it holds 6.4 from about 52,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.1 from over 600 votes; a critics' rating of 5.4 from 48 reviews places it below the audience scores.