Half-Assed Movie Reviews

May 21, 2010:  Rumble Fish

My typical review, in cases in which I have read a book before seeing the movie, tends to conclude that the movie doesn’t measure up and is a pale reflection of the book.  This one is no different.  The keen Half-Assed Movie Reviews reader may note that I haven’t often read the book before seeing the movie, and it’s common enough that it must be deliberate.  The reader may also wonder why I don’t just read more books and watch fewer movies if I don’t want to be so disappointed.  If I could read typical books in only a couple of hours, I might do just that.

Rumble Fish (1983) is an intersection of various phenomena with respect to the industry and the era.  First and most obvious, this is the adaptation of one of S. E. Hinton’s late-1960s-to-mid-1970s novels, which I gather were a shocking change tone for teen literature, realistically illustrating a tough side of youth, more representative of what actual marginalized kids experienced, as opposed to the idyllic suburban lifestyle more commonly portrayed.  Hinton brought authenticity to her stories, having lived similar scenarios during her early years.  Rumble Fish is also the continuation of a rebirth for director Francis Ford Coppola, who, after rocking the cinematic world with the first two Godfather films (1972 and 1974) and then nearly destroying himself physically and mentally with his magnum opus Apocalypse Now (1979), had to figure out where he was going next, being only fortyish and having a decent amount of Hollywood clout.  His adaptation of Hinton’s The Outsiders earlier that year had gone over well, which he clearly felt gave him license to be a bit more cerebral with this entry.  Rumble Fish also captures some fascinating performances in the budding careers of the new troupe of acting talent which was taking over the youth roles at the time, again a continuation of what The Outsiders had done.  Finally, Rumble Fish occurs right at a time when the 1980s were trying to define themselves as a decade and begin to distinguish themselves from the feathered-hair-and-disco aesthetic and attitude which had continued to permeate the early years of what would turn out to be a famously material decade.  The setting of the novel was contemporary to its time of publishing, in the mid-1970s, but the film is set in the present-day (i.e. 1983), probably for reasons of convenience and because there would be nothing really to be gained from setting it a decade earlier.

Wait just a minute.  Is Rumble Fish really so pivotal a film, or am I just talking out of my ass?  More than likely, the same and more can be said about The Outsiders, and it is the more important entry.

Anyway, Matt Dillon (at age 19) plays Rusty James, a tough but somewhat delusional teenager who idolizes his older brother, the legendary Motorcycle Boy, played by the (at the time) heartthrob and icon of coolness, Mickey Rourke.  Rusty James longs for the old days of gangs and street fights, and imagines a time when it will all happen again, this time with him leading his own crew and not just being one of his brother’s loyal soldiers.  The Motorcycle Boy, on the other hand, lives mostly in his head, smart but not quite finding his fit in the world, but conveniently able to float through anything life throws at him because he is so detached.  The black-and-white aesthetic of the film reflects the Motorcycle Boy’s colour-blindness, which applies to everything except evidently some fighting fish he sees in a pet store and stares at for hours.  Their father, an alcoholic played capably if unremarkably by the recently deceased Dennis Hopper, seems distant most of the time despite efforts to get to know his boys, but shows late in the film that he knows exactly what they are each going through and he understands that they are very different from each other, and he helps them to realize that that’s OK.  Diane Lane is feisty (and only 18!) as Rusty James’ girlfriend, showing the beginnings of an underrated and courageous acting career.  Nicolas Cage (Coppola’s nephew) and Chris Penn (Sean’s younger brother) are friends of Rusty James, and S. E. Hinton makes a cameo appearance as well.

The power of Mickey Rourke’s presence back in the day can be clearly felt throughout this film and saves it from disaster.  His recent career resurgence is based on that quiet force which he still has, but it’s diminished noticeably from his charismatic earlier days.  Matt Dillon, on the other hand, doesn’t quite seem to have a handle on the Rusty James character, possibly due to his immaturity, but also exacerbated by the loss of the novel’s inner monologue explaining the reasoning, flawed though it is, for what he says and does.  Cage and Penn are awkward as Rusty James’ friends, but it’s unclear whether this is the result of weak acting, or correct portrayal of characters who are trying to act tough when really they are just scared kids.  I’d like to give the benefit of the doubt, but it may not be deserved.

The setting and atmosphere is a huge part of Rumble Fish.  Almost like a stage play, with looped dialogue and lots of static settings, it almost evokes the innocent but under-the-surface dirty time three decades earlier in the 1950s, and I got the impression that there was a deliberate attempt to channel West Side Story (1962), which depicts a similarly theatrical interpretation of that time.  Unfortunately, some of the more modern techniques such as out-of-body floating, ringing in the ears, psychedelic music, and steam floating everywhere make the whole story seem dreamlike and fake.  I don’t think it comes across as intended.

Everything that happens in the book happens in the movie.  This is a luxury that you have when a novel is only 120 pages long.  However, the loss of the insight into what Rusty James is thinking makes his actions seem empty in the wrong way, and that is a significant enough flaw that I can’t recommend the film.  There’s plenty of value here, and it’s certainly not a waste of time, but as an experimental approach to the subject matter, it is only an interesting relic rather than a classic.

Go and see The Outsiders instead.