I was on the fence for most of Brats, a Brat Pack documentary by Andrew McCarthy, former member of the Brat Pack. Actually, he is still a member of the Brat Pack. Once you are in that club, you can’t leave.
I sympathized with his general unease in his younger acting days when, after an article written by some smartass journalist came out, he and Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Rob Lowe and others were labeled the “Brat Pack.” McCarthy didn’t like the implication of being labeled a brat, and he’s held a bit of a grudge throughout the years. Understandable.
But, man, this dude—a very privileged and lucky dude, I might add—just won’t stop whining. And when he sits with the actual journalist who wrote the article at the film’s end, he just keeps drilling the guy for writing the article, even during the goodbye handshake.
Oh, shut up, you whiny bitch. You were a movie star. You are still kind of a movie star (albeit not as much of one as most of the other members of the so-called Brat Pack). Maybe that’s because you whined about being in the Brat Pack too much—and, you know, you signed on the dotted line for the Weekend at Bernie’s movies. I concur that “Brat Pack” was an unfair labeling of a solid group of young actors, and it pissed me off from day one, but come on, let it go.
Much of the film is McCarthy calling old acting accomplices and trying to secure interviews. He hooks Lowe, Estevez, Sheedy, Demi Moore and Jon Cryer, while Nelson and Ringwald abstain, probably because this dude drives them crazy.
Some of the interviews are fine (especially those with Lowe and Estevez), and being a big fan of these movies, I enjoy the subject matter. But McCarthy isn’t a great documentarian, and his pissy attitude eventually kills all the fun.
Brats is now streaming on Hulu.
I agree with everything you say here. I thought it was a completely self-indulgent and pathetic “documentary” by a privileged washed-up trying to revive his career. Sorry to be mean but this BS just reinforces the whiney stereotype that we, Gen Xers have been fighting for years. Let it go man.
95% of them have had a 4 decade long career
Most actors don’t. He needs to say thank you
How would you feel if you were given an undeserved, not so flattering title at the age of 22? That would be a stigma that could affect someone for a lifetime. Why do people have to be mean. Like my mother used to say “if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything”!
Man, you have the correct last name. I bet you are fun at parties. Read Connie’s comment to get a clue on being a human being, not just the brown eye part.
Yes, I get it. The writer was an ass who was looking for fame himself at the time.
Yes, I can see how it could have been hurtful to the young actors at the time.
However, not only did those survive… most of them thrived! Their movies are classic! And like Wes said, their careers have lasted four decades! I would imagine that most actors (and anyone trying to become one) would kill for their success!
At this point, Brat Pack is an endearing title for all of us fans. Plus, “brat” as in “She is so brat!” has become a great thing to be!
I certainly didn’t think of them as brats… that is until I saw this documentary and listened to poor, rich Andrew McCarthy whining the whole time while driving around in his Camaro and visiting the estates of his fellow stars. If their careers had all fallen apart and they have been working minimum wage job since then, that would be one thing. But it is not.
Perhaps the writer was correct all along.
Why even bother taking anything like this so serious. These people are entertainers, all this is just that, entertainment. No one here or anyone outside of these actors family and friends, knows anything about these actors personal lives or thoughts. This “documentary” was made for entertainment and made by an “actor” for fun and for profit. Real problem is way too many people take all this tabloid nonsense as fact. Hollywood is make believe people and this film is no different, do you really think they are speaking their actual personal thoughts? Just by watching a clip you can see they are in a sense “acting” and its scripted like most if not all these shows are.
Just a reminder that nearly all (or all) of the Brat Pack members are Boomers, not Gen X. It’s very much a part of our Gen X culture because we watched these movies so often, but they, with their whining, are not Gen X.
It’s alright. Everything’s alright. McCarthy was always the pensive one. I enjoyed the nostalgia. We’ll all be dead soon enough. Let’s enjoy our back nine.