Rumble Fish is the movie of my youth. I return to it every 3-5 years to remind myself why it inspired me. In the intervening 25 years since its release in 1983, inspiration, unfortunately, has turned to tears, a fitting reaction to a story of lost youth. It wasn’t until I started this blog, however, that I finally read the young adult novel by S.E. Hinton.

The book would have resonated with me had I read it as a young adult, since the main character fulfills a dream I had as a teenage skateboarder—moving to California. I enjoyed the book as a grown-up because I love the film, which struck a nerve with me as a young man. Three aspects of the film won me over when I first watched Rumble Fish: Diane Lane as a model of my ideal girlfriend, the theme of getting out of a place where I felt stuck, and the soundtrack. At least two of those still hold true.

Rumble Fish, however, was not well received by critics. My sense is that most of them were over 25 and that they expected something more from Coppola at the time, like Godfather 3. As a nineteen-year-old male, it spoke to me and remains my favorite Coppola film to date, flaws and all.

Since Coppola worked with the author on the screenplay, the film is faithful to its source material. The young adult novel (135 pages) can be read in the amount of time it takes to watch the film, which doesn’t leave much material to drop from the film. Coppola, undoubtedly, knew exactly what the script would need to make a successful adaptation.

The book begins and ends with a latter-day meeting of Rusty James (the main character played by Matt Dillon) and his former best friend Steve, the nerdy one. That bookending device was wisely cut from the script. I’m probably biased by the film, but I tend to dislike most bookending devices in films and literature. Just tell me the story. I don’t need a prologue and epilogue to make me feel better.

The film places more emphasis on the relationship between Rusty James and his girlfriend Patty (Diane Lane), which results in a cutback on the novel’s focus on the buddy story Between Rusty James and Steve. While the smart and cautious Steve plays an important contrasting role to Dillon’s confused and brawny character, he’s too annoying a character to want to see on the screen for long. This results in the complete omission in the film of chapter four from the book, which primarily exists to show Steve’s loyalty to Rusty James, even when he’s doing stupid stuff like stealing hubcaps.

The early fight scene in the film comes off more powerfully than the book version. The book relies too much on what Rusty James is thinking instead of on straight forward action. This is also the scene when The Motorcycle Boy (played by Mickey Rourke) returns. The Motorcycle Boy, Rusty James’s older brother, holds a semi-legendary status in the town for his past gang fighting. Add their alcoholic dad played by Dennis Hopper and you have the perfect family.

While I agree with the writers’ decision not to focus as much on Steve and Rusty James, they were not always successful in their additions to the love story. One of the weakest scenes in the film is where they added dialogue for Patty to explain her love for the not-book-smart Rusty James. The film had an excellent chance to improve on the book by ending the scene sooner. Instead, it offers the corniest bit of dialogue in the film.

Another problem with the film is where it is obvious where shadows were painted on the front of Patty’s house for the scene mentioned above, a night scene. Later in the movie, a scene during the day (shot from a different angle) shows the front of the house, still with painted shadows and all. It wouldn’t be too bad if the framing of that shot didn’t highlight the front of the house but it’s difficult not to stare at those painted shadows.

The film could have been much better if more attention were paid to the details, even in the sound department. Although some excellent sound design moments exist, too many dialogue bits seem to float in the air. Fortunately, Rumble Fish has one of the best soundtracks ever (Stewart Copland) to make up for those pitfalls.

Overall, I never get tired of watching this film. And, now, having read the book, I feel the film did an outstanding job of improving on a book that is easy to overlook.

Post a Comment | Trackback URI