ThiefHott
Too much of everything
Mathilde the Guild
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Juana
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
twhiteson
Francis Ford Coppola stated he was inspired to make this movie after by being lobbied to do so by middle-school students. S.E.Hinton's 1967 juvenile novel, "The Outsiders," was a required reading staple for American middle-school students throughout the 70's and 80's. So, Coppola and his financial backers probably thought they had a built-in money-maker due to virtually every American teenager being exposed to the book.Set in mid-1960's Oklahoma, "The Outsiders" is about a group of working-class teens and their lives in a very socially stratified small city. The "Greasers," the poor kids from the other side of the tracks, are locked in constant conflict with the "Socs"- the well-to-do kids from the nice parts of town. The story is told from the viewpoint of "Ponyboy Curtis" (C. Thomas Howell) a young Greaser who is being raised by his older brothers, "Darry" (Patrick Swayze) and "Sodapop" (Rob Lowe), after their parents' deaths.Ponyboy and his best friend, "Johnny" (Ralph Macchio), get into a confrontation with some drunken Socs who take offense to Ponyboy and Johnny being too friendly with Soc girl, "Cherry" (Diane Lane). Violence ensues and a Soc ends-up dead. Ponyboy and Johnny flee with the assistance of Greaser bad-boy "Dally" (Matt Dillon). Will they ever find peace where people are just people rather than members of "tribes?"Hinton's novel is really juvenile with its ridiculous character names and teen fantasy world in which everyone seems to be devoid of parents. However, that's not surprising considering Hinton was just a teen herself when she wrote it. Still, its unique narrative structure and its plea for understanding between social groups quickly made it a teaching tool for middle-schools. It's possible a good movie could have been made from it.This isn't it. Instead, Coppola created a ninety minute ad for Tiger Beat magazine aimed at pleasing adolescent/teenage girls. One knows one is in trouble from the opening credits with its bombastic "Gone With The Wind" style title and treacly Stevie Wonder song. It only gets worse as the movie introduces supposedly "tough" characters played by actors who are almost as pretty as Diane Lane. The cast is a who's who of early 1980's "non-threatening boy" actors. It's the pin-up boys from the puppy-crush, fangirl mags: Howell, Macchio, Lowe, and even Leif Garrett makes an appearance. They're all filmed to look "adorable" and make little girls' ***** tingle. Their acting on the other hand? Ugh. Stiff, silly, and overwrought. The only actor who comes off fairly well is Tom Cruise prior to having his teeth fixed. He has a very small role, but he does make an attempt to approximate a working-class Oklahoma accent.The entire film is a melodramatic mess. Virtually every scene is over-acted with an absurdly maudlin and overripe musical score courtesy of Coppola's composer father, Carmine. (Even Coppola has recognized how that terrible score undermined this film because he replaced it in one of the DVD releases. Of course, this was done after his father had passed.)It's still shocking that this teeny girl, pin-up sapfest is a Coppola film. After the incredible struggle to complete "Apocalypse Now," it appears Coppola just wanted to coast on his rep and his heart was no longer into film-making. That may explain why "The Outsiders" and Coppola's other adaption of a Hinton book, 1983's "Rumble Fish," are so terrible.
Brian Davids (rustgold)
Some people love the movie because of the actors, others hate it because they want a "hit", but it should be judged on what is in the movie. And sorry to say, much of the material was feeble. Not sure the lead character helped, but it's almost as if the director wanted to make a romance. The result is a film that stumbles its way through 100 minutes, wasting so much potential. If the movie didn't mope and whine its way through, trying too hard to be a tearjerker without showcasing any real emotion, it could have actually been special. Not to forget it attempting to bash some moral story onto the viewer, but not knowing what was the moral story it wanted to bash into people in the first place. The result is a movie containing nothing to love, or hate. A vacuum.OK, it wasn't all bad, it was simply without direction or purpose. Some decent cinematography, a few flashes of potential in individual scenes. But not enough to make a movie. The director needed to pick a direction, and didn't.
Irishchatter
This movie is really part of the "Jocks Vs Greasers" franchise. It clearly states us on what it was like during the 1960s when poverty and rich didn't get on with each other. It reminds me of how Catholics and protestants didn't come to agreement with each other during the troubles in Northern Ireland. All of this fighting was just completely nonsense and pointless.I think it wasn't Johnny's fault for killing one of the socs because they really were crazy for trying to drown him. Jesus, all they cared about was the looks and not the personality! I would worry more of the personality then the looks.It was too bad Johnny died from burns trying to save the children in the old church building which was himself and ponies hideout. Why the hell were people there especially children? That gave me goosebumps and confusion! It didn't give us a chance to know what really happened! It was also too bad Dallas had to die from the police as he was going mental! It was pretty much the loss of Johnny that triggered him to become angry. I really thought Matt Dillon looked gorgeous during his youth, he looks so much like James Franco! Cherry probably should've taken him regardless if he was acting like a dope. However, he still was a cutie back then regardless hahaha! Good film but some scenes are tear jerking!
azred-19780
The Outsiders is a very powerful book with so many deep meanings behind it. I went through many emotions during reading this, and most of the chapters I enjoyed reading. Although it is very well written piece, it is sort of monotonous at times. As well as this, the characters, settings and plot were sometimes hard to follow. Out of 10 stars, I would give it a 7 because I did thoroughly enjoy it. It moves at a good pace, and it is very well revised. 8th graders is a good audience for this piece, and they can get many valuable lessons while reading it. The movie barely differed from the book. However, the movie is at a very very slow pacing and it was very boring to me.
