Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
In the 1980s, Andrew McCarthy was part of a young generation of actors who were set to take over Hollywood after a string of successful teen movies. However, when the New York magazine cover story in 1985 dubs them the Brat Pack, stars in the making suddenly find themselves losing control over the trajectory of their careers. Now, almost forty years later, McCarthy looks to reconnect with peers and co-stars so that together they can reflect on their respective legacies.
BRATS is a personal and surprisingly introspective documentary in which Andrew McCarthy turns the camera on himself and his generation, confronting the Brat Pack label with genuine emotional honesty. The plot functions as a therapeutic road trip of sorts — McCarthy seeking out peers like Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, and Emilio Estevez — which gives the film a loose but engaging narrative thread. The conversations vary in depth; some interviewees are guarded while others are candid, making the acting/participation feel uneven but authentic in its documentary context. Cinematography is functional and unremarkable, relying on talking-head interviews and archival footage without much visual distinction. Novelty is moderate — the celebrity retrospective documentary is a well-worn format, but McCarthy's self-implicating angle and his willingness to examine his own complicity in the myth gives it a distinctive personal voice that separates it from a standard nostalgia piece. The ending lands on a note of partial resolution and acceptance rather than a tidy conclusion, which feels honest but slightly anticlimactic.