The Outsiders (1983)
When two poor Greasers, Johnny and Ponyboy, are assaulted by a vicious gang, the Socs, and Johnny kills one of the attackers, tension begins to mount between the two rival gangs, setting off a turbulent chain of events.
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Wonderfully offbeat film!
Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.
Absolutely Fantastic
There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.
A Childhood Favorite That Over Time Has Proven To "Stay Gold".
It's a nice little movie. Comes off more dated with the musical score but the talent discovered for this flick alone is worth the watch. Swayze, Lowe, Howell, Cruise, Estevez, Macchio, Lane and Dillon. All young. All green. Sometimes dialogue is hard to follow and I found myself backtracking a few times to catch lines the 2nd time around. Young actors in a story by a young writer. Guilty pleasure. Glad I watched it.
2/4Before I critique the movie (which will be painful to do) I would like to observe the pools of talent involved in the making of this movie. We have director Francis Ford Coppola (known for The Godfather and Apocalypse Now) working with C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, and Patrick Swayze. The classic S. E. Hinton novel adaption is, for lack of better words, not very good.This film seems very textbook, and that's the main reason I wasn't a fan. Coppola refuses to stray from the confines of the book. In other words, it's not original. He teamed up with Hinton to try and provide the audience the most accurate presentation of the book, and that's something I very much respect. However, staying with source material doesn't mean you should the very camera angles predictable.One thing the movie succeeds at addressing is its title-you feel like an outsider. Coppola has skill at developing characters at a steady pace, and then developing the characters relationships. This is a real shame, because it feels Coppola is giving his actors more depth then they can handle. The performances from Howell and Macchio (the two main characters) are unfortunately the most inept on the set. They can't convey their roles with the proper gusto.One thing I really enjoyed about The Outsiders is the atmosphere. He was able to portray the times well. Coppola put effort into creating the feel of a 50's Oklahoma town. It's a very subtle touch, but I throughly enjoyed it.When it comes down to it, The Outsiders is not a bad movie, but it's definitely no good either. It does a great job of re-telling the book in the exact same way, which for me was a pointless excersise.
Legendary actors in their youth. Screenplay done well as an adaptation from S.E. Hinton's classic book.