Rusty James

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.

After hearing such rave reviews, I really was excited to see Francis Ford Coppola's indie classic 'Rumble Fish'. The film was shot in black and white and it had an expansive cast of talented actors including Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Dennis Hopper, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Tom Waits and Nicolas Cage. I enjoyed Francis Ford Coppola's other films like Apocalypse Now and of course The Godfather Parts I, II & III. From what I heard it was filmed kind of like this year's smash hit 'Sin City' ('Rumble Fish' was black & white but with dashes of color) only on a smaller scale. I rented this indie sensation when I was on vacation because they had it in the hotel video store. I couldn't find it in the Blockbusters in Arizona (where I live) and my portable DVD player was acting up so I couldn't view the DVDs I brought a long with me for the trip. It may have been just fate that I got the opportunity to view Coppola's 'Rumble Fish', definitely one of the most, if not the most inventive motion pictures I ever gazed my eyes upon.

The film is set in a 1950s - 1970s setting. With it's black & white color and just the way the film is presented it gives the audience a feel of the old 1930s James Cagney crime noir flicks. It follows a young and dumb hoodlum named Rusty James (Matt Dillon), whose the leader of one of the two gangs in town. After a huge rumble played out like a West Side Story scene from hell, Rusty is left hurt real bad when the opposing gang leader stabbed him in the gut with a switchblade. Coming to Rusty James' rescue is his older brother, The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke) who hasn't shown his face in town for a year after disappearing to California. The Motorcycle Boy helps his younger brother out, and eventually starts to hang around the neighborhood more. From there, the plot follows the two re-united brothers as they hang around the streets and cause trouble, while the Motorcycle Boy tries to teach his less then intelligent brother the meaning of life. Dennis Hopper stars as Rusty James and the Motorcyle Boy's dad, Diane Lane stars as Rusty James' sweet friend, Tom Waits stars as the grill master in the town's diner, and Chris Penn, Laurence Fishburne and a young Nicolas Cage are featured as some of Rusty James' gang buddies.

First of all, I adored the way 'Rumble Fish' was shot. With his extraordinary talent, director Francis Ford Coppola really creates a thing of beauty and opulence with 'Rumble Fish'. The only real downside of this picture is that the plot drags entirely too much, and that's pretty bad for a film running only 90 minutes. The writing is mostly good, but 'Rumble Fish' seems to be missing a real plot. The film substitutes hypnotic cinematography and cool scenery for an easy-to-follow plot, which in my opinion is a big mistake. Although this kind of bugs me, 'Rumble Fish' is a good film for the most part. The acting is superb with a engrossing and passionate performance by a very young Matt Dillon and a powerful and carefully layered performance by Mickey Rourke who in my opinion should have gotten an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor. Diane Lane is very good in one of her first roles, Dennis Hopper plays the alcoholic clueless dad perfectly and Tom Waits is a pleasure to watch. Nicolas Cage and Laurence Fishburne are also rock solid. If you want to see a film that's really out there and full of likable qualities, I'd recommend picking up 'Rumble Fish' your next stop to the video store. Chances are you'll find something or somethings to love about it. Grade: B

Rumble Fish is a strange and hypnotic film that follows the character of Rusty James, a young punk growing up in a small sleepy mid-western town, shackled to a drunken father, a group of fickle friends, and continually in the shadow of his enigmatic brother, The Motorcycle Boy. The film, although seemingly set in the present day, uses the style of the old 50's melodramas to great effect, referencing the likes of Rebel Without a Cause and The Wild One with it's stark, stylised black and white photography and it's bizarre compositions, whilst director Francis Ford Coppola uses a number of audio and visual effects familiar from his previous films, most notably, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now and One From the Heart, to give the film a strange, hypnotic and dreamlike quality that lingers throughout the film.

As with many of the other films that it references, the plot to Rumble Fish is quite simple, with Coppola building the film around the enigma of The Motorcycle Boy and around the ideas of family ties, small-town ennui and personal redemption. Although Rusty James is the film's central character, he is constantly overshadowed by his mysterious brother, who seems almost shell-shocked by whatever it is that he's witnessed during his years away from home. He is certainly one of the most interesting characters from any of Coppola's greater films, and is perfectly brought to life by Mickey Rourke in what is possibly his greatest performance ever (although, I think he's equally spellbinding in both Angel Heart and Year of the Dragon). Here, Rourke possess all the cool and feckless attitude of Brando and James Dean, but he also brings that damaged, somewhat alienated quality to role, which suggests so much about the characters and his past and also, about the possible future of the younger Rusty James.

The cinematic style of the film is exquisite, with Coppola invoking a real period feel through the use of photography and production design, which jars beautifully against Stuart Copeland's very 80's, very anachronistic score. The percussion suits the staccato editing style that Coppola uses in the first few scenes (which highlights the escalating boredom of the characters), whilst the use of time-lapse photography (inspired by the film Koyaanisqatsi, which Coppola produced) works perfectly in demonstrating the idea of time frittering away. The black and white photography works well, conveying the literally "black and white" view point of Rusty James, whilst the titular rumble fish (glimpsed through the window of the local pet store) are the only objects in the film that appear in colour (a nice metaphor). The sound design is purposely muddy, attempting to convey along with the images that skewed, slightly alienated view of the world that these characters possess, whilst Copeland's music also merges with the sound design to heighten the overall atmosphere of the film.

The acting is strong throughout, with Rourke coming across as the real standout, although the performance of Matt Dillon as the hotheaded and arrogant Rusty James is also impressive. The supporting cast features a wide array of cult performers and (then) unknowns that have now gone on to greater things, notably Dennis Hopper, Diane Lane, William Smith, Laurence Fishburne, Nicolas Cage, Tom Waits and Chris Penn. After Rumble Fish, Coppola would produce the problematic Cotton Club (possibly underrated), before cementing his reputation as something of a has-been with the third Godfather film, and throwaways like Jack, Peggy Sue Got Married and The Rainmaker. Because of this, Rumble Fish stands as something of a relic to the time when he was one of the most interesting American directors of his era... and is probably a film to rival the greatness of The Godfather, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now.

Rumblefish is one of Coppala's best and his last truly great movie. Taking place in a small industrial town, the film follows Rusty James as he aspires to live up to his notorious brothers reputation through gang life. His brother, known as 'the motorcycle kid', disappeared for reasons at first unknown but he makes an unannounced return whilst his younger brother is fighting a rival gang leader. Throughout the duration of the movie we see James trying to connect with his aloof brother and idol amongst rumours that he's 'crazy'.The films settings and characters are based heavily on 50's culture and there is also an interesting cameo from Tom Waits. The film is shot almost entirely in black and white with stunning cinematography and brilliant acting, especially from Matt Dillon and Dennis Hopper as the alcoholic father. A great drama and a must-see for movie fans.

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.