Rumble Fish

"Rumble Fish" (1983) Rated "R" by the MPAA for Adult Situations, Profanity, Brief Nudity, Some Violence, Minor Gore, Brief Drug Use & Underage Alcohol Use. Running Time 1hr&34mn. My Take: ***1/2 (Out of ****)

"Rumble Fish" just might be Francis Ford Coppola's most overlooked film.

This movie, based on the Susan E. Hinton novel, tells about young street tough Rusty-James (Matt Dillion) who idolizes his older brother known only as 'The Motorcycle Boy' (Mickey Rourke).

Rusty-James longs for the days of rumbles and being a part of a gang. His friends are somewhat reluctant to feel the same way. His girlfriend Patty (Diane Lane) goes to an all-girl prep school. She's supportive of Rusty-James' need for acceptance and wanting to be cool like his estranged brother. "You're better than cool", she reminds him. "You're warm!" That's also a warning. Will Rusty-James heed?

Subtly, this is a film about the failure of the 'American Dream' and making choices, whether right or wrong. After all, Rusty-James' family fell product of the socialization process. They live in the slums, but that may not always have been the case. The boys' alcoholic father, memorably played by Dennis Hopper, was once a well-to-do lawyer earlier in life. What about the enigmatic Motorcycle Boy? Is he truly crazy? Or does he have 'an acute perception' that drives him crazy?

Brilliantly shot in black & white, Stephen H. Burum's cinema-photography makes "Rumble Fish" feel like something out of a chaotic dream. Everything is surreal, yet relative to each other. Clouds stream by overhead symbolizing the passage of time. Clocks appear throughout the movie suggesting time-is-a-burnin'. The suggestion here is: don't waste the time you do have while you still can. Stewart Copeland's almost all percussion and highly rhythmic score adds to that effect.

In "Rumble Fish", Coppola skillfully addresses the need to belong, to lead, to have goals, to have vision and warns not to fall deeper into an urban trap. Will Rusty-James discover what it means to step out and become his own identity before it's too late? As The Motorcycle Boy points out, "If you're going to lead people, you need to have somewhere to go."

That's good advice.

Yes, this was an effective, well-acted and visually stimulating art-house movie - the forgotten masterpiece of Francis Ford Coppola. I just recently watched this again and fell in love with it. I was a big fan of S.E. Hinton's writings growing up and this film did it justice. It's interesting that author S.E. Hinton claims that the script to this movie was written "on one of the first personal computers" in less than two weeks. How technology has changed nowadays with Final Draft. Matt Dillon gives his best performance as Rusty James, a 1950s street punk whose alcoholic father has all but walked out on him, and whose older brother (an enigmatic figure known only as The Motorcycle Boy) has left and moved to California some time ago. Dig this one up again. It's a classic.

I saw Rumble Fish in a small a cinema in Dublin when it came out in 1983. It became a cult hit around town and was shown every Monday afternoon for for £1 for months. I bunked off work often to see it as did many people, I got to know. It's hard to say what made it quite so special, god knows I've tried over the years in those party/pub moments when the conversation is flagging and someone asks, 'what is your favourite film?' Obviously they want to know why when you come up with something they've never heard of, hate or are indifferent to. I read Susie Hinton's books afterwards and also sought out the Outsdiders (also from a Hinton novel) which was made at the same time and was a good film with some of the wistful intensity of teenage life so strong in Rumble Fish but was like the straight, conventional brother by comparison. I think Susie Hinton went straight to Coppola's heart and she worked with him on the two films, even appearing in cameo in both. It is amazing to me that her books were marketed as teenage fiction, they are to my mind mature American fiction and transpose beautifully to the screen. The plot is a simple one and necessarily so yet the implications are universal. The style, camera-work, casting and soundtrack work together so well. I don't think that even in the Godfather Coppopla ever got it so right. The dreamy quality of the film, the distorted imagery and the fantastic soundtrack reflect the physical and mental damage suffered by the James family, Rusty's brain damage from one too many rumbles, Dad's alcoholism and the Motorcycle Boys colour blindness, depression and death wish. It's like an elegy for the old west and the constraints of small town life, John Ford meets David Lynch. It also marked the beginning of the end for Zoetrope studios and we'll never know what great movies we lost when that motorcycle gang left town.

I have to admit having a soft spot for this film as I have for Apocalypse Now, though perhaps Coppola could never quite carry out a truly inventive directing style. His films mostly seemed somehow constrained to an unchallenging format, and avoided the complexity, surrealism or depth so often used to great ends by film directors. Coppola's films will always seem to this author to be part of that distinct class of "Hollywood Films", though some are arguably "really good" Hollywood films.

As often the case with good films, Rumble Fish featured a fantastic collaboration of other great artists. This talent comes together to create something memorable on film which communicates, as few films have, a certain mood or feeling that is perhaps peculiar to the American midwest, especially during the 1980's. Something about the antipathy of growing up in such a vast, apathetic, culturally blank, comfortably mediocre place and attempting to go beyond it or find something in it, like punching your way out of a cardboard box only to find that things seem just as dark and empty on the outside. It should be made clear that this author also comes from that midwest and identifies with this theme, so there is some bias in this review, but this may apply to other "midwestern refugees" as well.

Fans of S.E. Hinton, on who's book the film was based and who co-wrote the screenplay, will appreciate the film, as well as fans of Tom Waits, Stuart Copeland (of the Police and little known project Klark Kent- which closely resembles the soundtrack), Mickey Rourke, or any of the (then) young, up and coming actors like Matt Dillon, Nicolas Cage and Diane Lane.

Rourke is at one of the peaks of his young career here, a cool rebel without a cause type, vaguely reminiscent of young Peter Fonda or James Dean- a striking character. The film has memorable scenes and lines, one of which is Dillon's character saying to the fatalistic older brother- "Motorcycle Boy" played by Rourke, something like- "People would really follow you anywhere, why don't we do something?", to which Rourke responds- "Yeah, they'd probably follow me right down to the river...and jump in."

Similar scenes and numerous references to time passing away seemed to summarize the hopeless stagnation of growing up nowhere and proceeding to go nowhere. Groping in the dark for everything or anything meaningful in the context of a forgotten, lifeless irontown where even the young seem more like ghosts trying desperately to become tangible in some sense, and the middle aged are already on some other world.

Other films that come to mind- James Dean films; "Reckless", another Hollywood film released a year later, with Aidan Quinn (as "Rourke"- coincidence?), and Daryl Hannah, was semi-successful in making the occasional reference to a similar blighted steeltown theme, though overall it was spotty; "Dogs in Space" with Michael Hutchence of INXS was a punk classic, and had some of that "nowhere with style" appeal with an Australian twist; two other 1980's films the author never saw- "Down by Law" and "Rivers Edge" probably fit somewhere in here as well.

Ambitious and experimental film with an atmospherical musical score and a luxury cinematography in black and white. Melodramatic and enjoyable Francis Ford Coppola movie with amazing cast, most of them made great career. It deals with Rusty James (Matt Dillon), he is the leader of a small, dying gang in an industrial town, he workships his gang-leading older brother, the only role model he's known. As Rusty lives in the shadow of the memory of his absent, older brother, The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke). Rusty wants to revive the spirit of the old youth gangs, following in the footsteps of his idolized older brother who was once the leader of one of them and who carries a legendary aura and a reputation as a rebel and untouchable. His mother has left, his father (Dennis Hooper) drinks, his relationships are shallow, school has no meaning for him, except for his student girlfriend (Diane Lane). From fight to fight, Rusty longs for the return of his brother who is coming back from California, and there are still city walls that say: 'Motorcycle Boy Kings'. When the missed brother returns home, the two go through a series of experiences and the older brother teaches him things about life and longs for the days of gang warfare. The Motorcycle Boy's Never Coming Back !. Rusty James can't live up to his brother's reputation !. His brother can't live it down !. No leader can survive becoming a legend !.

Crafted by Coppola into an important story of growing up on the wrong side of time. Stars Matt Dillon as absent-minded street thug Rusty James who struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, finely played by Mickey Rourke, and exploring especially the relation between them. Acting naturally from the wrong side of the tracks and concerning their rebel conflicts with the traditional society and each other. A cult and nostalgic movie with a lot of newcomer stars to have many of them a long and successful cinematic career, including the following: Vincent Spano, Nicolas Cage, Christopher Penn, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane and, of course , the two starring: Matt Dillon and Mickey Rourke who thanks to this film he ultimately achieved stardom. All of them made great prolific career strides , not even Francis Ford could have afforded such luxurious number of stars a decade after. They are accompanoed by other nice veterans, such as: Dennis Hopper, Tracey Walter, Diana Scarwid and Tom Waits. There are continuous drama and Coppola gets some stirring, exciting moments towards the ending.

A nice film for youth , including drama , agreeable relationships, sensibility and a large number of fiights and confrontations among bands tending to fall foul of the law . Based on the popular S. E. Hinton novel and Francis Ford Coppola himself, they adapted another Hinton book the same year : ¨The Outsiders¨ (original title) with Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, and being followed by a TV series.

It packs a good and sensitive soundtrack by Stewart Copeland. As well as evocative cinematography by Stephen H. Burum with plenty of brilliant and glamorous photography in black and white, exception for the rumble fish in significant colour. The film was compellingly made by one of the best filmmakers , Francis Ford Coppola . This director has made great films as "The Conversation", "Apocalypse Now" , "Outsiders" , "Gardens of Stone", "The Godfather" saga and of course this "Rumble Fish"that is deemed to be one of the best ones . Although overdone , and excesively melodramatic but adolescents still love very much this exciting yarn. A cult above average movie for fans of the various new stars that participated in this Coppola masterpiece. Essential and fundamental watching for Francis Ford Coppola enthusiasts and completists. Rating: 7.5/10. Better than average.