MovieChat Forums > Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Discussion > Watched it couple of times. The film is ...

Watched it couple of times. The film is so overrated.

posted 9 years ago by vortexrider
6 replies | jump to latest

I understand the film has some meaningful themes and started well. It is more or less realistic up to the point after the death of Buzz. But afterward it is just so unrealistic and strange.
A person dies. They all realize they're in trouble and quickly drive away or run. Some are called to police even. But Jim and that girl (Judy?) seem to giggle and laugh and have some strange romance in the same night it seems. It is simply absurd and unrealistic.
It also doesn't make sense why three punks, while scared of police, would go out of their way to seek out Jim, then find Plato instead and try to attack him, the guy who couldn't have even been the cause of the death of Buzz. It is not strange that they are evil scumbags, but it still doesn't make sense to see what they do.

I do like the angle about Plato, however, because it is touching on the subject of mental illness. Whether caused by the absence of his parents, or from unknown causes it is unusual to see a film touch on such a subject especially today when some kids go crazy and go killing people. Today of course we know of a number of observed causes for such things such as untreated autism symptoms, or violent media, or exposure to violence from adults, schizophrenia etc. I wish could find out whether the director intended the focus to be on Plato's mental illness. I mean the film started with the shocking revelation that he shot a bunch of puppies. Even the detective Ray(or whoever that policeman is) said that Plato needs a shrink.

In today's films I am sure Plato would have been depicted as a frustrated homosexual and the theme would be suicide as opposed to violence toward others. Probably the focus would be on how friends should pay attention to their friends who might show signs of trouble. What do you think? I prefer the theme as it is in this film though, instead of pandering to society. I actually think that Plato probably is the real "rebel without a cause" in this film, if ever there was an intent for specifically one character to be the "rebel". I suspect that the theme is that all of those kids have a pointless troublemaker brat inside them.

By the way, I noticed an interesting detail which was that one of the white policemen actually tried to comfort the black lady who is the caretaker of or guardian of Plato. He even held her hands. Not sure whether that is unusual or not to see in a movie from the 50s.

[–] Mike_Smith76 9 years ago

I watched this movie for the first time 20+ years ago when I was in high school. I knew a few devoted James Dean fans that worshiped at the altar of this film. Having heard about the film numerous times, I thought I would check it out. For me, it was wasted time. People raved about Dean's performance in this "timeless classic," but I just laughed. I thought he was terrible. The weak link in a mediocre film. I thought Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo were quite good, and they made it worth watching it through to the end. As I close in on 40, I thought I'd try watching it again. I thought it would be interesting to see if age had changed my perspectives or taste. Unfortunately, I still thought it sucked. I think too many people focus on the legend of James Dean, rather than his work. So many "what if..." questions, especially wondering what he might have become had he lived. Honestly, I don't think he would have had a long career. He just would have been pushed aside for the next big flavour of the week. Based solely on his performance in this film, he wouldn't have risen higher, more likely as washed up has-been, long forgotten in the whirlwind that is Hollywood.

I feel I should state that I love watching old movies. I'm not bothered by the fact that, back then you couldn't say or do things on screen that we see today. The focus was on the story and the actors, rather than CGI, nudity, etc than what we see today.

"L'enfer, c'est les autres"

[–] Jonathan62 9 years ago

I agree that James Dean's legacy is disproportionate to his films. I haven't seen 'Giant' yet, but I wasn't blown away by either this or 'East of Eden'. Of the two, I prefer 'Rebel Without a Cause', but it's no more than a 7.5, maybe 8/10 to me. I guess this film will stand as his definitive title though, as his image is now pretty synonymous with certain aspects and undertakings of his 'Rebel' character.

[–] yusef-ghanima 7 years ago

in both times you were watching dean not the movie, so you missed the genius that the director was, so you practically didn't even watch the movie yet

[–] yusef-ghanima 7 years ago

movies are art not science, only in the soviet union they are supposed to be realistic, and this movie is very poetic, still you clearly don't understand or forgot the realty of teens.
the teens were angry of jim seeing him as cause of buss death, but more important they were involved in stealing the cars that were used in the race, i forgive you for not noticing the second important point, i didn't
plato wasn't sodomite he saw jim as a father figure
since the movie was shot in the 1950s, it's as realistic as it can be regarding the black woman, the actors were in the 1950s and they dared to touch a black woman!

[–] vortexrider 7 years ago

Thanks. I actually lived in the Soviet Union. Movies were much less realistic there actually. They were extremely sanitized and didn't allow any serious topics to be introduced.

Also about Plato, I did not suggest he was a homosexual (not sure why you used a term "sodomite". No one uses it in conversation, unless they mean it derogatively )I meant that if this were a theme in a modern movie then the character such as Plato would have some kind of modern social problem.

[–] liscarkat (16592) 2 years ago

Dean was a ham. I am sympathetic about his premature death, but he is King of the Overrated.