You’ve heard of the Hollywood “Brat Pack,” that is, the young actors who appeared in important Generation X films like “The Breakfast Club”, “Pretty in Pink” and “St. Elmo’s Fire” in the 1980s, but did you know that a literary “Brat Pack” was emerging in the United States at the same time? It was a more exclusive club than the movie gang, with Bret Easton Ellis, Tama Janowitz, Jay McInerney and Jill Eisenstadt being its most prominent members. They were brash, daring and, particularly in Ellis’s case, terribly full of themselves.
Ellis’s “Less Than Zero” is easily the defining work of this movement. It tells the sordid story of wealthy college student Clay, who returns home to Los Angeles for a depressing and debauched winter vacation. It’s a horribly nihilistic but undeniably readable novel and it was a shock to my system when I tore through it in sixth grade. It was also extremely popular with young people, so it was only a matter of time before a film adaptation was made. And while 20th Century Fox struggled to find the right screenwriter for the project (that is, someone who could sand off the rough edges, which, in 1986, included Clay’s bisexuality, lots of queer sex, and a scene involving a snuff film), the film ultimately struck what the studio considered a comfortably edgy tone.
Fox also dove into the casting of the Hollywood Brat Pack and came away with Andrew McCarthy as Clay, Jami Gertz as Clay’s high school girlfriend Blair, Robert Downey Jr. as their drug addict best friend Julien, and James Spader as the ultra-sleazy drug dealer Rip. And if you look really closely (assuming you can watch the movie, given that it’s almost impossible to release it legally), you’ll see a fresh-faced Brad Pitt hanging out at some parties.
Brad Pitt lingers on the edges of Less Than Zero
Pitt didn’t receive credit for his performance in “Less Than Zero,” but you can clearly make out him as a dancing party animal as Clay walks into a very 1980s holiday party at a Los Angeles mansion (see above). Pitt reappears in the background of a tense scene at another party, where Clay fights with Rip. But again, if you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of Pitt’s brief turn in this film in decent quality, you’re pretty much out of luck unless you live in the UK, which is currently the only place on Earth where it’s available to stream legally.
Pitt and Downey never share a scene in “Less Than Zero” and, some four decades later, they have yet to act together for a film. Interestingly, it took a bit of time for the two incredibly handsome men to become stars in their own right (although Downey should have risen to the top of the A-list). on the strength of his work in “Less Than Zero”). Although he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in “Chaplin,” Downey’s own addiction issues sabotaged his career until he got sober and became Tony Stark. Meanwhile, Pitt would not appear until 1992 when he raised the temperature in Ridley Scott’s “Thelma & Louise” as the sexiest hitchhiker in the world.
As for the literary “Brat Pack,” only Ellis has enjoyed a superstar publishing career. Although I liked a few of his later novels (“The Rules of Attraction” and “Glamorama”), I despised “American Psycho” and stopped reading it altogether when I couldn’t bear to finish “Lunar Park.” I will never listen to his podcast either.
