MovieChat Forums > Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Discussion > Dean, a ham!?

Dean, a ham!?

posted 11 years ago by ArthurJimbo
13 replies | jump to latest

Jimmy overacting? I saw a great deal of subtlety.. a damn near flawless performance. How absurd to read some reviews here and find people think they know what they are talking about in regards to performing. Dean is brilliant here. He's astoundingly cool and level headed yet vulnerable and inventive at the same time. Fresh new actors in their second films try and be cool all the time. And, even if they pull it off.. they are usually lacking creativity and are shy in terms of taking risks and making interesting decisions regarding the work at many different points along the way.

Dean is why I'm an actor myself. A big reason. He at least instigated the will in me to try it. Ignorance is amazing! People think because he made it look so easy that they can do it as well. Well guess what..keep sittin in your audience easy chair and snarflin down that popcorn with your delusions of grandeur. The mark of a great actor is that they make it look effortless and easy. I can assure you from experience that it is not! It can be a downright headache maintaining the concentration it takes to pull off a performance. And the skill and talent required is a weighty burden. Shame on you nay sayers who sum up this mans life work in a few trite and ignorant sentiments. Bleh eh

[–] jason-m-cook 11 years ago

Hear hear!!

[–] Tetra123 10 years ago

He makes you work hard for it -- to fully understand the subtleties of what he's portraying -- and I think it can be as exhausting for people to view his acting, as it probably was for him to perform it. Release from that build-up, when Dean finally decides to give us it, is a rewarding relief but some people might feel resentful over how much they had to engage, while viewing his films.

Dean's "cool guy" in Rebel isn't some over confident, hot-headed thug, he's distant, yet vulnerable. He's a young man, full of physical power and vigor, yet he's needy for validation and his heart and soul is totally exposed, with a "Hamlet" kind of desperate indignation.

[–] ArthurJimbo 10 years ago

Dean's "cool guy" in Rebel isn't some over confident, hot-headed thug, he's distant, yet vulnerable. He's a young man, full of physical power and vigor, yet he's needy for validation and his heart and soul is totally exposed, with a "Hamlet" kind of desperate indignation.

Could anybody have said this better? Nice! Thank you for your post.

He makes you work hard for it -- to fully understand the subtleties of what he's portraying -- and I think it can be as exhausting for people to view his acting, as it probably was for him to perform it. Release from that build-up, when Dean finally decides to give us it, is a rewarding relief but some people might feel resentful over how much they had to engage, while viewing his films.

Never thought of it quite that way. Maybe its possible this explains some folks reactions to him.

"Silences crossed by Worlds and by Angels" - Arthur Rimbaud

[–] toldyousew 10 years ago

As it is now, it's neither grammatically correct, nor does
it convey the message you want readers to know.

Country + RAP = CRAP

Country + ROCK = CROCK

[–] ArthurJimbo 10 years ago

I wasn't aware that I was writing a formal dissertation. Overall, my sentiments are conveyed in my post.. despite the poor aesthetics. Now, do you actually have something to say? Some input? Some ideas, perhaps? Or are you going to just skim surfaces with your red ink and share absolutely nothing of your thoughts regarding the subject? hehehe

In haste, I did type my title flippantly.
Looking on it..you are right. Your grammatical corrections are warranted and give it a concise punch. lol.

I tend to write roughly and freely on these forums without too much regard for perfection. Aside from that.. so many complete jerks have responded to me with such bile and disregard that I really don't bother to make it pretty

To show im a good sport..Im going to change the title accordingly.

So, what have you to say about Dean as a performer? Your thoughts...
Please?!

"Silences crossed by Worlds and by Angels" - Arthur Rimbaud

[–] toldyousew 10 years ago

amospedigo09 stated:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I wasn't aware that I was writing a formal dissertation."
------------------------------------------------------------------------

What you don't do is make a post as you did starting off
like that. You do not come back with some immature,
defensive sarcasm! You come back with some graciousness and
thanks. Just make the change in the headline as you did
without the attack on me. If you want to improve your
post, DELETE the first paragraph back to me.

Country + RAP = CRAP

Country + ROCK = CROCK

[–] ArthurJimbo 10 years ago

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What you don't do is make a post as you did starting off
like that. You do not come back with some immature,
defensive sarcasm! You come back with some graciousness and
thanks. Just make the change in the headline as you did
without the attack on me. If you want to improve your
post, DELETE the first paragraph back to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I like the first paragraph.

Other affable folks have managed to grasp my simple sentiments just fine. And they did so without belittling me in front of everyone on this board over trite surface grammar. Enter rude Captain Obvious.

Maybe you could delete your ridiculous bold letters in your last post. I think it would lend some decency to your response.

Im not here to please you or any other pretentious person on these boards. Go publicly grade someone elses post and leave mine alone if you are lacking any ideas to contribute. Do you like Jimmy Dean or not> its pretty simple.

I don't know, maybe you could go on for days in some stupid tiff argument with me over horse shi#. I've run into a great deal of circle jerks on here.

"Silences crossed by Worlds and by Angels" - Arthur Rimbaud

[–] ArthurJimbo 10 years ago

toldusew

I was a bit defensive. I do apologize if I was in any way prickly. Thanks for the post. Maybe you would be so kind as to share your opinions on James Dean. If not, what does interest you on the imdb at this time? Are you going to watch Wolf of Wall St?

Never a frown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH3LDbz-jP4&list=FLjKo0G5m85LXA3juA3wjrEw&index=51

[–] Tetra123 10 years ago

Thank you, Amos!

[–] ArthurJimbo 10 years ago

Tetra!

I see you like River Phoenix as well... ;)

"Silences crossed by Worlds and by Angels" - Arthur Rimbaud

[–] Tetra123 10 years ago

...only because everyone knows, all the absolute best, most brilliant people, in The World, like River Phoenix...and I'd like to throw my oar in with those folks ;)!

[–] ArthurJimbo 10 years ago

Hahaha Its true ;)

Silly!

"Silences crossed by Worlds and by Angels" - Arthur Rimbaud

[–] SCsurfguy 7 years ago

I think Dean, as a person, was pretty self-reflective and pensive. I think he truly was an artist and I saw little of the contrived in him, or his performances.

I think we have some Dean-wannabes nowadays in the acting kingdom, but they will never be authentic. Like Dean was.

It seems I've heard he had quite the brooding personality too at times and was at once connected and disconnected with who he was. I think he was an artist. And I think he was always searching. Which made him the authentic being he was.

I will always relate to this movie though because I had the same kind of relationship in high school. With a guy who was new to the campus. He was immediately challenged by the status quo dudes at this rather cliquish high school because of his looks, and the young ladies liked him.

I was the Plato character who was befriended by Mike. He and I hung together. As he got more into sports, he became more accepted by the guys. And once he had his girlfriend he was no longer a threat.

I was gay, and sort of Mike's sidekick, but started dating chicks as a cover. So no one knew I was gay.

Even though I always had a crush on Mike and knew what I really wanted, we stayed friends until he moved away our senior year. It sucked.

Fortunately by that time I had my own little clique, but I missed him a lot.

This movie totally resonated with me.