Review of The Outsiders (1983) by Steph O — 23 Aug 2010

"Johnny: It's like the mist is what's pretty, you know? All gold and silver.

Ponyboy: Mmm.

Johnny: Too bad it can't stay like that all the time.

Ponyboy: Nothing gold can stay.".

- One of my favourite scenes of any movie ever.

"The Outsiders" is about a group of young greasers in a war with their rival gang the 'socs'. Where the greasers as known for being 'trailer trash' the socs are rich and ridiculously well-dressed. Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell) and Johnny (Ralph Macchio) are the youngest greasers, the ones everyone thinks are harmless and innocent. But they're actually pretty messed up kids. Ponyboy lives with his two brothers (played by Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze) because his parents are dead, and he's always fighting with them. Johnny's parents just hate his guts. There's a great scene where Johnny and Ponyboy are outside at night talking and Johnny says, "There's gotta be some place without greasers... without socs...must be some place... just plain ordinary people.".

When two socs attack Ponyboy and Johnny one night, Johnny sees one of them is about to kill Ponyboy... so Johnny kills the guy. They flee, and end up hiding in an abandoned church somewhere. After the murder a series of events happen that make everyone realise how stupid the fighting between the greasers and the socs is. As to whether this realisation makes any difference for them, well... I'm not going to ruin anything. "The Outsiders" is about friendship. Right and wrong. Family. A great movie for people of any age, I think. Such a classic.