Review of Rebel Without a Cause (1955) by Brendan C — 22 Mar 2013

Rebel Without A Cause is what made us remember James Dean. It was his best role by far. A very good movie; with a very good script, that also follows a very relatable theme in the 1950's. The performance from James Dean is what makes the film good, while the other performances were nothing special, his was. The screenplay, and James Deans acting were the two things that made this film as good as it is. It is weird how James Dean was so famous for this movie, and East of Eden, but he died when he was so young. He was obviously a great actor at the time, because he sure was popular for only having two big hits.

I had wanted to see this for a long time, and I thought I would enjoy it. I liked it just as much as I thought I would, and I thought it was very good. I bought it on DVD so I could watch it, and I thought it would be a good classic to own, and I was right. The important thing about this film was that it stood the test of time. I find it interesting how films about teenagers in high school seem to always stand the test of time. Some examples are "Breakfast Club," and "Ferris Buellers Day Off." Films like that and this one will always be good classics. They don't get old.

Directed by Nicholas Ray, this film tells the story of Jim Stark (James Dean). He is a "Rebel Without A Cause" just like the title says, but he has a reason why he rebels. He rebels because he is unhappy, and he is angry because of the way other schools treated him. I think he was treated badly because he is strange, and because he does rebel against everything, and he has no cause or apparent reason for it. He is a stereotypical rebel. Meaning he just goes against everything, and he even rebels against his fellow students. When people call him "chicken" he rebels against them, and gets really mad. He also doesn't appreciate anything that his family does for him. His parents have to move to another town to help protect him from getting in trouble. It is sad because the other students do pick on him, which causes him to be unhappy and to rebel. He is just a troubled rebel who has a reason why he chooses to rebel, but no cause that he is for.

Jim and his family move to another town, and he must go to a new high school. When he goes there he immediately gets into a knife fight, which he wins. In the fight they do not stab they just do little slashes and give each other small cuts. At first he didn't want any trouble but eventually has no chose but to be in the fight. He then meets them at 8:00 that night by the cliff to do some ridiculous stunt that leads to another guy driving his car off of the cliff and killing himself. It then turns into a wild night.

The film was very fun and entertaining. Something else I felt about it was that all the kids were rebels in their own ways, and not just Jim. It is an interesting film that will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2 years. So far it is 58 years old and it has held up, and is still a good story and movie. I can't wait to see "East of Eden" after this. I hope I like that one just as much as I liked this.