St. Elmo's Fire (film) - Plot

Plot

The opening shot of the film introduces us to seven recent graduates of Georgetown University: Billy (Rob Lowe), Wendy (Mare Winningham), Alec (Judd Nelson), Kevin (Andrew McCarthy), Jules (Demi Moore), Kirby (Emilio Estevez), and Leslie (Ally Sheedy). The film jumps forward to a hospital where the group awaits to learn of the status of Billy and Wendy, who were in a driving accident. Neither of them is seriously hurt, but Wendy’s car is destroyed as a result of Billy’s recklessness. Billy is arrested at the hospital under drunk driving charges. While at the hospital, Kirby sees a medical student named Dale (Andie MacDowell), with whom he has been infatuated since college.

Later the group gathers at their favorite college hang out, St. Elmo’s Bar. It is revealed that the cause of Billy's drunkenness was his recent firing from a job that Alec helped get him.

Alec, at the studio apartment he shares with Leslie, tells her he is trying to get a better-paying job, even though it means switching political parties. He pressures Leslie to marry him, but Leslie isn't convinced that she's ready. Meanwhile, at Kevin and Kirby’s apartment, Kirby tells Kevin of his love for Dale. Billy later comes over to stay, saying he can't deal with his wife.

After a shopping trip with the girls, Jules invites Kevin over to her apartment where he is incredulous at its extravagance. Jules asks Kevin why he has never made a pass at her, and accuses him of being gay and in love with Alec.

Kevin visits Alec and Leslie for dinner. Alec confesses to Kevin that while buying lingerie for Leslie, he had sex with the lingerie saleswoman. Leslie then tries on the red slip Alec bought, and the two end up fooling around, leaving Kevin to cook dinner. Later Kevin, in a conversation with a prostitute, asks her why she has never tried to solicit him. She responds that she thought he was gay.

Billy visits Wendy at the welfare office where she works, and joins her for dinner with her relatives. Wendy borrows money from her father (to give to Billy), who pressures her to get married. While drunk, Billy climbs onto the roof where Wendy follows him and they discuss after-college life with Wendy revealing she is a virgin. They later kiss on the couch, but after he teases her about her leggings, she tells him they should not see each other anymore.

During Halloween at St. Elmo’s Bar, Jules reveals to Leslie that she is having an affair with her married boss. Meanwhile, Billy, while playing saxophone, sees his wife with another man in the crowd and attacks him. Billy is fired and thrown out of the bar where he and his wife fight, then kiss.

The girls have lunch at a soup kitchen where Wendy is working. Wendy and Leslie confront Jules over her affair with her boss. She tells them not to worry and leaves. Wendy and Leslie to talk about their relationships. Meanwhile, Billy, who is house-sitting for Mr. Kim, a wealthy Korean businessman, is caught by his boss with a woman, and fired.

In drenching rain, Kirby follows Dale to a house party, and reveals his feelings for her. She tries to rebuff him, but fails.

Billy returns to his old frat house at the college, where he ends up playing ball and asking for a job. He visits his wife and baby. She says she wants an annulment but Billy refuses, promising he will change.

Kirby takes a job working for Mr. Kim. He invites Dale to a party he is secretly holding at Mr. Kim’s house. At the party, Wendy attends with a bookish-looking man named Howie (played by Jon Cutler), and Jules gets drunk.

Alec then “announces” to the gathering that he and Leslie are engaged, upsetting her, as she had not consented. She confronts him about her suspicions of his infidelity, and Alec at first plays dumb. Enraged, he attacks Kevin, wrongly thinking Kevin had told Leslie about his misbehavior. Leslie is heartbroken, realizing she wasn't just being paranoid. Alec demands Leslie moves out of their apartment immediately. After the party, Kirby, who had been trying to find Dale, confronts Dale’s roommate, demanding to know where Dale is. Billy and Jules ride home. Jules is about to confide a secret in Billy, but all Billy wants is sex. Jules refuses, and throws him out of her car.

Pursuing Dale, Kirby drives to the ski lodge where she is staying. The door is answered by a man, and Kirby, realizing it is Dale’s boyfriend, runs back to the car. He tries to drive away but the car becomes stuck in snow. Dale and her boyfriend convince him to come inside.

Leslie, kicked out of her apartment, goes to Kevin’s place to stay. She discovers a box of photographs of her. Kevin confesses his love for her, and they make love. The next morning, Alec comes by, using the key Kevin had given him earlier, and apologizes. Leslie reveals her presence, wrapped only in an afghan, enraging Alec. In disbelief, he leaves.

Mr. Kim arrives home, discovering his house in a mess from the party. Wendy, drunk and passed out on the staircase, tells him that he took her car. As Kirby prepares to leave Dale’s cottage, Dale tells him she is flattered by his affections. In a surprising moment, he kisses her, and she does not resist.

Wendy meets her father at a café. She tells him that the car that Kirby borrowed (and damaged) is fixed, but wants to return it to her father. She also tells him she does not want to marry Howie, the man her parents arranged her to date, and that she wants to move out.

Leslie goes over to her apartment to pick up her possessions, and is surprised to find Alec there, not at work. They squabble over the record collection, and fight about their affairs. Alec then mutters to himself how he still wants Leslie, but she doesn't hear.

In the climax of the film, Leslie asks for help and reveals that Jules has for weeks been pretending to go to work. Having been unable to make the payments, her car and furniture were repossessed. In shock, Jules has locked herself into her apartment with the windows wide open, admitting the freezing winter air. The boys come over to rescue her, climbing on to the fire escape. Kirby goes off to find Billy, who now works at a gas station. Kevin tells Alec that he was the one who got Billy the job this time. Enraged, Alec attacks Kevin again, dangling him over the edge of the fire escape, but with Leslie’s intervention, he calms down. Alec, still annoyed, doesn't seem to be concerned about Jules anymore until Leslie, for the first time in their relationship, aggressively tells him to back off. An exhausted Jules finally unlocks her door just as Billy bursts through it. Jules reveals that she is disgusted with her behavior towards her "step-monster" and that recently for the first time, they shared a real conversation, but then she fell into a coma and isn't expected to awake. Billy consoles and comforts her, comparing her behavior to St. Elmo's fire (that her problems are merely an illusion). She finally laughs, indicating to the others that she is all right.

Wendy moves into her own place, where Billy comes to visit and states that has agreed to a divorce, pays back some of the money he owes her and announces he is moving to New York and pursue a career as a saxophonist. He asks her for a "going away present," which turns out to be them making love. At the bus station, the group says goodbye to Billy. Billy whispers to Alec, "don't let her go," motioning to Leslie. The opening montage of the group at graduation appears again, bringing the film full circle. Leslie announces that she needs to be alone for a while, not dating either Alec or Kevin. Alec and Kevin agree and make up as friends. Once at St. Elmo's Bar, the group decides to have brunch on Sunday, but not at St. Elmo's Bar; they instead choose Houlihan's because there's "not so many kids" there. This symbolizes that they are finally moving on from college life and ready to enter the real world as adults.