Review of Rumble Fish (1983) by Kane M — 02 Jul 2008

Cant help but get drawn into this stylistic story of brotherhood. For all the reasons it is disliked - I love it. it's ostentatious, but it's also contains inventive camera work, an intersesting and chellenging persucssion soundrack and an overt surreal atmosphere. It's also arguably pretencious, but pretensions have never stopped films being great before - just look at Stanley Kubricks back catalouge, or off the top of my head P.t Andersons Magnolia. The film, much like it's lead character, Rusty James (Matt Dillon), has a youthfull confidence that's loud and proud, and travelling with velocity towards tragedy.

It does move with a lazy strut in parts, and the poorly developed fight scene in the alley feels so amatuer in it's direction and choregraphy that it distracts - it's like Copploa, at times, just couldnt be fucked applying himself and his talent to the production; it's apprent that the director wanted a more theatrical feel to the fights in the movie - this is conveyed by the first fight between Rusty and Biff Wilcox - but were as this fight is cinematic, surreal and fun to watch, the aforementioned alley mugging and punch on, is none of these things.

I hold this film up high. It lays spread out, stunning, sleak and exciting, on the top shelf, much like Diane Lane's character does in Rusty's classroom daydreams.

ALSO AND FINALLY: and it was doing black and white with punches of color, long before Sin City came around.