Review of The Wanderers (1973) by Richard S — 21 Jul 2007

A brilliant film from the tail-end of the New Hollywood era of the 70's, and a rare case of an adaptation of a novel that is infinitely better than the source material (which was basically one long unstructured innuendo-laden tale of growing up in the Bronx. Here however, the loss of innocence theme is far more prominent - the setting is 1963, a whole year before Beatlemania arrived Stateside, and combined with the assassination of Kennedy, the teenage protagonists all sense that life, the universe and everything may in fact be bigger than their simple existence of rival gangs, 'elbow titting' and doo-wop. The best scene in the film perfectly encapsulates this. Richie (Ken Wuhl) is framed alone (in a long shot) looking into a dark bohemian cafe where Bob Dylan is singing 'The Times They Are a Changin'. There's no place anymore for his kind - genius.

Ps to the reviewer a couple of spots below, this has nothing to do with the Outsiders! That was made in 1983 and directed by Coppola.