Review of Rumble Fish (1983) by Allen G — 25 Mar 2013

Some nice symbolism, decent performances and great visuals almost save this film from being a failed experiment but the finished product is more of a nice-looking mess than any kind of big success.

I say failed experiment but that's not really true- it's certainly an experiment, one of such a calibre that it's just as easy to say that it's a success as it is to say that it's a failure. As an art film for teens in the 80s (which is what Coppola said he was going for) it probably is more of a success but the sense of wasted opportunity still remains- the quirky nature (love it or hate it) and emphasis on style (also love it or hate) takes over this film and makes you have to work to find the, quite interesting ideas behind it. I enjoyed watching the film but I had to quickly accept that it wasn't going to go anywhere exciting or be particularly worth watching outside of it's look, and I was right. If I hadn't accepted that early on then this would have been a big disappointment- as much as I enjoy the look and feel of this film, one shouldn't have to lower their expectations on all other aspects of it in order to enjoy it and yet that's the case here. We have a great cast all of whom only seem to have been given one direction- act cool. They all succeeded on that but with some of the dialogue in this they weren't going to get any further- some of Dillon's lines are laughable and you have to expect better than that.

In the end, I do feel that this should have been more- a film with this style and this talent shouldn't boil down to a sub-standard "gang" movie full of half-baked ideas, with the great ones being cut short only to be replaced with some interesting camera shots of the sky. This film should be memorable for more than the occasional scene and overall curiousness of it, it should be remembered for having all of that and a strong story to fit but this doesn't have that, not by a long shot.

I've given it a fresh rating because there is enough in here for this to be an enjoyable movie (assuming you like the look and feel otherwise you'll surely detest it) and it is an interesting experiment, but it shouldn't be such a close-call- a film with this much talent behind it should be a clear winner- the film may be black and white but rating it's success is a murky grey area for sure.