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A thread of vulnerability weaves through \u201cBrats,\u201d the actor-director Andrew McCarthy\u2019s new documentary. In it, McCarthy, the star of \u201980s hits like \u201cSt. Elmo\u2019s Fire\u201d and \u201cPretty in Pink,\u201d tries to make peace with having been branded a member of the \u201cBrat Pack<\/a>\u201d by the press.<\/p>\n In 1985, New York Magazine<\/a> christened a collection of young actors with that sticky sobriquet \u2014 itself a wink to the midcentury Rat Pack<\/a>. The quasi-gonzo cover story by David Blum (who makes an appearance in the film) ran right before \u201cSt. Elmo\u2019s Fire\u201d opened and a few months after \u201cThe Breakfast Club\u201d hit multiplexes. Hollywood\u2019s youth quake was on. But not everyone reaped the benefits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Early in the film, McCarthy says that the article \u201caffected my life massively.\u201d Over the next four decades, his filmography wasn\u2019t what he\u2019d hoped for. Testing a theory that his fellow Brat Pack actors may have felt similarly pigeonholed, he phones Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe and others, whom he hasn\u2019t spoken to in decades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n McCarthy interviews them in person, sitting (or in the case of Estevez, standing) in what starts to resemble a therapy session. Often, McCarthy appears to be the only one who is still working through the trauma of instant, if fragile, icon status.<\/p>\n The film\u2019s through-line of woundedness is by turns touching, irritating and occasionally illuminating: A visit to the writer Malcolm Gladwell is insightful; watching Dick Cavett and Phil Donahue fawn offers a cringey lesson in how easy it is to rev the star-stoking machinery.<\/p>\n And about that 1985 article: It doesn\u2019t actually mention McCarthy much. Though one of his co-stars had this to say about him: \u201cHe plays all his roles with too much of the same intensity. I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll make it.\u201d If McCarthy\u2019s ire with the Brat Pack moniker begins to feel psychologically displaced, might this be the reason?<\/p>\n Brats<\/strong>
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 32 minutes. Watch on Hulu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n