Review of Rebel Without a Cause (1955) by Karl V — 30 Aug 2008
Not nearly as "cool" or as "rebellious" as I thought it would be.
The movie is just dated as all hell. I know that's not a superb reason to give for lowering the rating of a film, (and I understand that this was very controversial in its day)...it's just that our society has evolved way too fucking much to not make me laugh at nearly every scene in this movie. It's just ridiculous melodrama...high school angst that really "rebels" against nothing...it's just idiotic behavior.
The movie finally picked up for me during the last few sequences, which weren't too shabby because they relied on the universal appeal of tension and the threat of unexpected violence. This was cool.
The knife fight with Jimmy Dean and the greaser looking kid was NOT. The "I'm gonna jump out of a car after you do" scene was NOT. All the whining and bitching and crying was NOT. I'm sorry, but the script was just ridiculous. And the camera movement left A LOT to be desired...the sparse use of closeups killed potential opportunities of tension...and instead, we're left with awkward closeups every now and then of someone's hands reading a journal or some shit...what the fuck? They wouldn't be nearly as awkward if they'd just have cut to more closeups of perhaps ACTOR'S FACES more often instead of their FUCKING FINGERS...how random is that.
Balls baby, balls. I was let down big time with this shit.
This review of Rebel Without a Cause (1955) was written by Karl V on 30 Aug 2008.
Rebel Without a Cause has generally received very positive reviews.
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