RUMBLE FISH
TAGLINE: Rusty James can't live up to his brother's reputation. His brother can't live it down.
I LOVE IT.
And now on to our feature presentation...
What if Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Dennis Hopper, Tom Waits, Diane Lane, and Francis Ford Coppola gave us a movie and nobody came? There's no "what if" there. That's exactly what happened when RUMBLE FISH was released in 1983.
Critics and moviegoers were largely in sync with their hatred for this abstract, gritty teen spectacle. But I beg you to try it on for yourself and see if it fits. Here's how much I back this movie - It has Nicolas Cage in it, yet I still like it. And if you know me, you know how much that means.
Years before anyone ever heard of him, Jim Belushi had his biopic filmed by Francis Ford Coppola and it was called RUMBLE FISH. That's a joke, but there is indeed a parallel. RUMBLE FISH is the story of a guy who can never live up to his brother's reputation, and while trying, instead of perspiration he sweats desperation.
With RUMBLE FISH, Coppola crafted an overly-stylized, black and white, wacky movie that pleases and misfires at the same time. Matt Dillon plays punky-tuff thug Rusty James (try doing a shot every time his name is mentioned and you won't make it through the first 20 minutes). When told another local gang leader wants to fight him, Rusty James is nothing but eager. For he desires to be like his legendary brother, The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke). Rusty James lives in The Motorcycle Boy's shadow. He wants to be him so badly, yet can't understand why that will never happen. And to add insult to bodily injury, The Motorcycle Boy saves Rusty James more than once. And in a way, saves him big time at the end.
At a pet store, The Motorcycle Boy, who is colorblind, watches rumble fish swimming in an aquarium (we can see them in color, the only color in the movie). They're called rumble fish because they love to fight. They'll see their own reflection and die trying to fight it. Which brings me back to the rumble- a surreal ballet featuring water, steam, Expressionist shadows, sounds, shards of glass, blood, and a side of WEST SIDE STORY. It's a beautiful piece of filmmaking. And it's where Rusty James' life starts to really take a turn for the worse.
S.E. Hinton wrote the book and co-wrote the script (with Coppola). And get this, she has a cameo as a hooker. She also wrote the books that led to the way overlooked movie TEX (also starring Matt Dillon) and THAT WAS THEN...THIS IS SHIT (I mean...THIS IS NOW).
The "experimental" music by POLICE drummer Stewart Copeland is often too obtrusive and, well, bad. But the cast is wonderful.
Sometimes RUMBLE FISH's metaphors are heavy handed, like when The Motorcycle Boy frees animals from their cages. Or better, when Rusty James sees his reflection in a car window and punches it (remember that rumble fish aquarium thing?), turning into color for a flicker of a moment. But there are also many interesting and sometimes trippy elements in this film. Take Mickey Rourke's wafer-thin line delivery; the volume is made hotter creating an eerie effect to his dialogue (I think that was intentional?). And the KOYAANISQATSI-like clouds. Even the smoke and steam I usually hate in movies seems to work well here.
As I mentioned up top, this movie sank to the bottom of the sea when it was released. But take a look around now. It turns out there are schools of Rumble Fishies out there that adore this movie. In fact, I found more people who like it than not. So I guess it's now time to ask - Is RUMBLE FISH a brave film or is it a pretentious film? The answer to that is - yes.
