Wayne119

A friend of mine had rented this, so I watched it with him and another friend and none of us fell asleep. One problem with the story is that it lacks a setting. The boys' haircuts are 1970s, but the nun's habit is 1950s. We don't see the boys' parents at all, so I guess this is supposed to be a residential school. But we don't see the boys in the dormitory either, not that I remember.

The performances of the young actors are good, but much of the action seems unmotivated. The boys think of something to do, like kidnapping a mountain lion from a zoo, then they go ahead and do it without asking why or considering any consequences. Do today's youth behave that way? I hope not.

The adult characters (nun and priest)are shallow. One boy has some serious questions to discuss, and the priest advises him to pray the Lord's Prayer. When the nun confiscates a book of William Blake that a boy is reading, she fails to explain why--other than saying Blake was a "dangerous thinker." I don't know any priests or nuns who are like that. Oh well, it's only a movie. . . .

"East of Eden" came out when I was 21 and very impressionable, and from then on I was a James Dean fanatic. So were most of my friends, but we didn't see his other two films until after his death. We identified with the roles he played. Cal Trask, Jim Stark, and Jett Rink were just as mixed up and insecure as we were, and James Dean could play those guys because he was mixed up, too. After we saw "Rebel," all of us wanted red jackets like the one he wore in that movie.

In this new movie, a young actor named James Franco plays James Dean, and he beautifully conveys not only the angst and many of the distinctive mannerisms but also some of James Dean's offbeat humor. I suppose one reason Franco was chosen to play Dean is that he looks like him. Not a lot, but there is a resemblance. He could have done a caricature of Dean, but happily he didn't fall into that trap.

Some of the writing was disappointing. The actress who plays Pier Angeli is beautiful and quite good, but what can you do with lines like "You don't understand" and "My mama won't let me"? Those are not her exact lines, but you get what I'm saying.

Dean's relationship with Jack Warner is well done. Also his relationship, or rather his lack of a relationship, with his father. But I kept wishing they'd show more about the making of the films. How did he relate to Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Carol Baker, Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood? And what were the films about? If I didn't already know James Dean's films, I still wouldn't know much about them after seeing this biography. But maybe I would be inspired to check them out.