Rumble Fish (1983) ****

 

If I asked if you remember that Francis Ford Coppola movie based on an S.E. Hinton novel about poor youths running wild, the one starring Matt Dillon and Diane Lane, you would almost certainly think of 1983's “The Outsiders.” The movie is a classic, and it kick-started the careers of several of its young stars. It turns out, though, that Coppola and Hinton teamed up on a second movie. While filming “The Outsiders,” the two wrote a screen adaptation of Hinton's novel Rumble Fish. After they wrapped “The Outsiders,” they stuck around Tulsa, OK, where that film was set, to film “Rumble Fish.” They used some of the same cast and crew, but filmed this one in a much more experimental style, using black-and-white film and techniques borrowed from French New Wave and German Expressionist directors. The movie was a commercial flop, but it has lived on as a cult classic that, in my mind, outstrips “The Outsiders.”

Matt Dillon plays Rusty James, a two-fisted teen gang leader who longs to live up to the legend of his older brother, Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke). Motorcycle Boy once brokered peace between the gangs, but then left town. In his absence, heroin has taken over the streets, which have become a lot meaner. When Motorcycle Boy returns, everyone wonders what will happen. Rusty James wants to bring the old gang glory days back while hooking up with his girlfriend (Diane Lane), but it's unclear whether Motorcycle Boy wants to do much of anything. He seems to have lost interest in using his considerable street cred, and he becomes obsessed with the Siamese Fighting Fish down at the pet store. He refers to them as Rumble Fish, and he develops a conviction that if the fish were in open water with plenty of room to wander, instead of penned up in tiny bowls, they wouldn't always try to kill each other.

This is an excellent movie, and I can't believe it took me this long to hear about it. Rourke, Dillon, and Lane are outstanding, and they benefit from a supporting cast of stars (Dennis Hopper), future stars (Chris Penn, Laurence Fishburne, Nicolas Cage), and oddballs (Tom Waits). The black-and-white cinematography is beautiful, casting the grubby outskirts of Tulsa in stark contrast to the beauty of the film's stars. Diane Lane, in particular, looks like a million bucks in this movie.

It's been a while since I watched “The Outsiders.” I recall it being a good movie, but very melodramatic. I mean, all that “Stay gold, Pony Boy” stuff is practically self-satire. All the themes are clearly explained, which is probably why the movie was such a hit. “Rumble Fish” is slightly more subtle. It's a pretty obvious metaphor that Motorcycle Boy sees himself and his fellow youths in those angry, penned-up fighting fish, but at least Francis Ford Coppola lets you make the connection for yourself. That, combined with the percussive, anxiety-inducing soundtrack (by Stuart Copeland of The Police) and the movie being in black-and-white, probably explains why it failed at the box office. There was no general audience for this film in 1983, and honestly, there probably isn't today. The good news is that unlike in 1983, when movies had to live or die by what they made in the cinema, movies today can thrive on video and streaming, finding their audience over time.

4 stars out of 5