James Dean

I watched this film with the idea I was going to hate it as I have all other attempts to recreate the life of James Dean, especially the one starring Casper Van Dien, which was deplorable. But the new TNT won me over more times than it missed. Without being aware, I discovered an occasional tear running down my cheek. James Franco did as well as anyone could to play James Dean. The times when he lost me were when Mark Rydell had him smile, full view with a horrible set of teeth. I realize this is picky, but if something is noticeable to break your concentration, then it is wrong. I wish Ted Turner had made this a two-nighter. There were scenes that could be expanded, especially with Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan. I would've like to've seen more off-camera interaction between James and Julie Harris...and later on, when he became friends with Elizabeth Taylor and an enemy of Rock Hudson, two people that played predominant roles in the final days of James' life. Mark Rydell, who also directed, was marvelous a dead-ringer for Jack Warner. All and all I'd have to give it 2 1/2 stars out of four. It skimmed James's biography and could have had more depth, rather than playing on a sordid father-son relationship based on speculation. But thank God, Mark Rydell didn't spend to whole two hours exploiting James' relationship with Pier Angeli as the Van Dien version did, just to reinforce James Dean's preference for heterosexuality. I would love for Ted Turner to put out a three or four hour version of this same movie on DVD...I bet a lot of good scenes are lying on the editor's floor. All and all...pretty good show! (but could have been great without having to trim the movie for commercials).

James Dean is portrayed by James Franco with a remarkable resemblance in physical appearance and great sensitivity. As the events of James Dean's life unfold in the made for cable film, insight is gained into the enigmatic and tragically short life of the brilliant film star. This production takes in many of the well known accomplishments of James Dean's career and includes significant personal events in his life. The interface with James Dean's father, excellently played by Michael Moriarty, is central to this story. The recognition and appreciation by film industry giants contrasts with the father's lack of regard for his son. A moving performance by James Franco who steps into the shoes of James Dean and makes us love him all the more.

Mark Rydell's "James Dean" has some good things going for it. It also has some serious flaws because it ventured into areas which were completely speculative and inaccurate. Going for this TNT movie is the performance of young James Franco as James Dean. Franco's performance was more imitation than interpretation, but Franco had Dean's mannerisms and motions down pat. Michael Moriarity as Winton Dean and Sam Gould as Martin Landau also gave strong performances. The film captured the pathos of Dean's early life due to the death of his mother and rejection by his father-- emotional blows from which Dean never fully recovered. The "bad" and downright "ugly" about this production are the many glaring inaccuracies about Dean's life. Any serious Dean researcher could rip this production to shreds on that basis. (But I won't!) I'll even resist the temptation to write a laundry list of inaccuracies because I don't want to spoil this movie for anyone. (If you want to know, email me.)

I agree with others comments that this should have been a two part (or more) miniseries. With the plethora of commercials, the length couldn't have been more than 90 minutes of actual footage. Many interesting and important parts of Dean's life were given short shrift by this production. However, if this TV movie can ignite interest in Dean among people who have no idea about him, then it has served its purpose. I do hope that people will not take this Hollywood production at face value. Dean's real life was far more interesting than this production showed and he was a far more complex , talented, and tormented individual than he was depicted in this movie. I hope that this movie will serve as a springboard for others to discover through reading, viewing Dean's movies, and researching, the life of this fascinating American Icon.

Wonderful. James Franco brilliantly channels James Dean in what is easily one of the best made-for-television movies ever made. Franco delivers a knockout performance in his portrayal of one of the most celebrated teen idols of all time.

The movie opens with Dean filming a scene from East of Eden, adding his own personal twist to the shot. A focused relationship of this film is the one between Dean and his father. After Dean's mother dies when Dean is only 9 years old, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle. His father seems to be embarassed by him, and will not invite him into his home. Eventually, Dean's father will not see him at all.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this movie, and hope that from beyond the grave, Dean is watching, and smiling. Franco's next big role is that of Peter Parker's best friend Harry Osborn in the big-budget superhero flick Spider-Man, and I for one cannot wait.

"East of Eden" came out when I was 21 and very impressionable, and from then on I was a James Dean fanatic. So were most of my friends, but we didn't see his other two films until after his death. We identified with the roles he played. Cal Trask, Jim Stark, and Jett Rink were just as mixed up and insecure as we were, and James Dean could play those guys because he was mixed up, too. After we saw "Rebel," all of us wanted red jackets like the one he wore in that movie.

In this new movie, a young actor named James Franco plays James Dean, and he beautifully conveys not only the angst and many of the distinctive mannerisms but also some of James Dean's offbeat humor. I suppose one reason Franco was chosen to play Dean is that he looks like him. Not a lot, but there is a resemblance. He could have done a caricature of Dean, but happily he didn't fall into that trap.

Some of the writing was disappointing. The actress who plays Pier Angeli is beautiful and quite good, but what can you do with lines like "You don't understand" and "My mama won't let me"? Those are not her exact lines, but you get what I'm saying.

Dean's relationship with Jack Warner is well done. Also his relationship, or rather his lack of a relationship, with his father. But I kept wishing they'd show more about the making of the films. How did he relate to Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Carol Baker, Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood? And what were the films about? If I didn't already know James Dean's films, I still wouldn't know much about them after seeing this biography. But maybe I would be inspired to check them out.