After the immense success of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, Frances Ford Coppola decided to bring an adaption of The Outsiders, a novel by S. E. Hinton, first published in 1967.
The Outsiders is about a rich gang ‘The Soches’ and a poor gang ‘The Greasers’, this story follows The Greasers and how they get tangled up in a kind of gang war with The Soches. The story starts with The Greasers killing one of The Soches and the story shows how The Greasers deal with this. The young all-star status of the cast is interesting, seeing many people who hadn’t really broken out into their careers yet. With stars like Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise you would expect the acting to be amazing but as these stars are at the beginning of their careers and the film relies purely on them, the acting is average at best. Id also like to add I have no idea what’s up with Tom Cruise’s awful southern accent but he’s barely in the movie so it’s not too bad.
There’s an underlying feeling of the characters being eliminated despite strong directorial skill from Coppola prevents any form of attachment with them. Whilst the film feels gritty and authentic despite being heavily abstract, the film comes across as slightly overemotional and quite dated from the modern viewer that I am. The uneven storytelling is frustrating as the broad cast of characters are awkwardly mismanaged with hardly any time given to the character development, there could have easily been allocated more time to this factor as films like these rely on characters. It seems like Coppola may have played it too safe here, had he chosen to get to grips with the deeper meaning of the film, the characters, then a less sugar-coated movie might have been made.
This movie definitely feels rushed compared to the book. They left out a lot of important things for the sake of time but what Coppola left out could have added to this movie. The acting is only viewed as bad because of the awkwardly written script and rushed scenes. For a book that does remarkably well with characterisation, the movie feels ridiculously lacking in that, and there isn’t much of an excuse since the first scene establishes that Ponyboy (Howell) is writing this out.
There are enjoyable moments however, C. Thomas Howell as Ponyboy Curtis is the heart and soul of this coming-of-age story, the relationships with his struggling family and friends the most captivating aspect that, given stronger focus could have made the film better. The 50s drive-in inspired aesthetic and allowed the characters to come into themselves and made the viewer understand them more.
Ultimately the film is about children forced to grow up far too early, and their innocence shows their underdevelopment and how they are being forced into roles they aren’t ready to fill. There are a number of moments that hammer this home, like when ‘Two-Bit’ (Estevez) sits down in front of the TV with a chocolate cake and a beer in his lap to watch some Mickey Mouse. This juxtaposition of childishness and adulthood is symbolic of the broken world they live in, where adults are all but entirely absent, and children survive by going to war against each other. The reading of Johnny’s (Macchio) letter at the end is heart-breaking. His remarking that he’s glad they saved the schoolchildren from the fire because they have “more to live for” than he does is chilling as Johnny is only sixteen.
Coppola must be praised for his inventive camera work in this film as without it he may as well not have been there. Whether someone is running across a field and the camera pans along with them or gentle still shot lingers on an emotional moment, Coppola always frames every shot to perfection. Practically every second of film can be taken out of context as celebrated as one of the most iconic pictures in cinema. The whole movie is visibly gorgeous. The scene with the sunset shining on Ponyboy and Johnny’s faces while they appreciate nature is one I’ll remember forever, their silhouettes and monologues are burned lovingly into my memory.
Personally I hate the soundtrack, so many of the songs felt out of place with the tone of the scenes and the movie overall, during sad scenes I wanted to feel the emotion of the characters and that was impossible with Elvis singing in my ears. A more instrumental score would have fit the movie better than throwing in a bunch of Elvis songs and rockabilly tracks that were just tone-deaf in comparison to the scenes they were supposed to compliment.
I can’t say I hate the movie, it’s still an incredible tale of social class and growing up with tough decisions like loss and loyalty. Coppola may not have been the best choice for director, as I can’t help but feel someone else would have brought a more unique spin on the story and given these younger actors better direction. If this movie weren’t so iconic, I’d say it could stand to be remade just to do the book more justice, but at the same time I’m not sure if I could imagine this movie any other way.
Film Reviews by Chloe 