REVIEW

Brat Pack documentary fails 

Members of the Brat Pack from the 1980s.

If you lived during the 1980s there is a very strong possibility that you knew of the Brat Pack.

A loose coalition of similarly-aged actors at the forefront of a teenage Hollywood revolution, members of the Pack starred in a handful of groundbreaking films that defined a generation, from The Breakfast Club to St. Elmo’s Fire to Pretty in Pink.

But apparently the phrase “Brat Pack” was reductive, and if you didn’t know that then Andrew McCarthy, himself an alum of the rowdy crew of misfits as well as the director of Hulu’s new original documentary, Brats, will spend an hour and a half of your life telling you so. 

Ostensibly a documentary chronicling the careers and lives of the titular Pack, Brats is much more of a therapeutic journey for McCarthy as he grapples with the label that was thrust upon him. The chip that is always present on his shoulder is the true star of the documentary, presenting itself even when it makes for awkward viewing (the interview with Emilio Estevez is particularly painful).

Some of the other Brats clearly didn’t see the big deal he was making of the label, no matter how many times McCarthy insists otherwise, and in many ways the documentary feels like a thesis statement in search of validation, rather than a conclusion reached naturally through supporting evidence.

Andrew McCarthy believes that the phrase “Brat Pack” derailed his career, which is, on its face, a thing that can be sympathized with, and it may even be true. But it’s hard to take his complaints too seriously when he is interviewing his fellow Brats (some of which have had very respectable careers post- 80s, such as Rob Lowe and Demi Moore) in their giant, beautiful houses.

Many kids would have killed to be in the Brat Pack at the height of their fame, and here you are complaining that things didn’t go exactly your way because of a relatively harmless nickname? It’s self-indulgent and, dare I say, a bit bratty. 

Brats has some occasionally interesting moments outside of McCarthy’s labeling complaint, such as when the issue of racial representation (or the lack thereof, to be more accurate) in 80s coming-of-age films arises, or the discussion of the importance of music in the Brat Pack films, but these moments are always superficial and skin-deep. It always comes back to the phrase “Brat Pack” being bad, and it’s just very hard to care.

To paraphrase Rob Lowe, the person who seems to have the best perspective on these things, this isn’t a cure for cancer we’re talking about here; we’re talking about a handful of classic films and the nitpicks of the very lucky people who made them. Brats is the ultimate exercise in whining about first-world problems, and this hardly makes for interesting viewing.

If you’re not already a fan of these films you won’t care, and if you are, then Brats might just leave a bad taste in your mouth. I say skip it. 

Brats is now available on Hulu. 

Article written by TJ Reid

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