James Dean (2001)

Excellent but underrated film

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

James Franco first impressed me in his wrathful portrayal of Harry in "Spiderman." I did not pay close attention to his running of the Hollywood gantlet until "Oz, the Great and Powerful" was released; and then, I paid far too much attention to tepid or caustic reviews. Finally, a friend persuaded me to see that movie. Like many releases in recent memory, the movie is a diamond-in-the-rough. If a student submitted that screenplay to me, I would say, "Nice rough draft - Now go back and polish it so that every syllable and image is pristine." Recently, I have been entranced by Franco's portrayal of Daniel in reruns of the 1999 television release of "Freaks and Geeks." In that role, Franco seizes upon moments to behave crudely, with great refinement and sensitivity, immaturely, and in a continuum of gestures indicating the growth of his character.Two nights ago, I watched the 2001 television biopic, "James Dean." In one of the first scenes, I sat up straight. The partly crouching, partly crumbled thin body of Franco had transformed himself into the painful, wizened pose of James Dean, seated and squinting as though lost in his own world, his own moment.Throughout this movie, I became convinced that Franco had really studied Dean's every facial pose, his every gesture and movement, the way the actor whispered, sighed, moaned and snarled, often without verbalizing.Franco, certainly one of our age's Renaissance Men, bites off much, but he can chew. Taking as many as 62 college credits at once, while writing short stories, acting in a plethora of films, all at the same time, some of his performances, ergo seem more tepid, even a bit more soporific than others. His portrayal of Allen Ginsberg, though daring, did not capture or keep my interest or attention."James Dean" is a movie which, very much like the life of the real James Dean, I hated to see end.

In this late-night TV movie, James Franco delivers a stunning, totally convincing portrait of the late James Dean. His physical resemblance is uncanny and his acting is spot-on, not just with the James Dean style of acting but also the awkward, shy and stooped body language off-screen and the confused persona.The whole early 1950s era is brilliantly re-created (vehicles, drinks, bars, TV and film of the time) with superb location shooting and a re-enactment of the Hollywood of the time.Dean is portrayed as an awkward child from a difficult background, with his mother dying when he was nine years old and all of the upheaval that followed (moving to Indiana, for example). He discovers his love of reckless motorcycle driving in the cornfields, something that would later cost him his life.For me, this was one of those surprise films which was rather short - about 90 minutes - yet which I just hoped would go on for another hour or more. It was that brilliant. James Franco is a star.

The James Dean movie might have been done much better had it been a feature film rather than one susceptible to the limitations of a made for TV movie. That is, where the filmmakers have to be wary of time and probably, content constraints. What we have as a final product, despite a nice performance by James Franco as the legendary James Dean, is little more than celebration of the man as a mythical pop culture icon. Even the more "authentic" emotional moments such as the rocky relationship between the young actor and his estranged father are so tightly bound in overt dramatizations rather than something more lifelike. Everything about James Dean, as portrayed here, seems less like insight into his background and his rise from a poor, Indiana teen to iconic actor who's life was cut short mid-success, and more like James Dean as a piece of staged dramas only adding more to creating a mythical creature and less to explaining a real person.Consider, for example, if you were a viewer who had known little about James Dean. Perhaps you had watched a few movies or, like Elvis, had always noticed him as the "understood" representation of juvenile disillusionment and delinquency (more the latter than the former, since our culture celebrates rebellion more so than simple dissatisfaction). But after having watched this film, what do you really learn about James Dean? I think the other dilemma of making a film about James Dean is that he was so young and still in the process of rising to fame when he died, that there doesn't seem to be many significant points of his life that can be stretched into an hour and a half film. Here, we do get a little, but not really much to play around with. Other than seeing bits about the girl at the studio he meets and becomes friendly with, the Italian actress he lives with for a while, befriending Martin Landau, and the relationship with his father, there really isn't much to go on. Not knowing much about James Dean, I don't know if there was much in his young life that could merit filling the time for a movie. It may be that those who were closest to him that could really give the trivia about his background have passed on. It seems that, if he was as distant as they claim him to be, maybe it was hard to get the story behind the man even by those who knew him in real life. But perhaps this is the reason why the subplot with his father seems so entirely forced.Unfortunately, there is a lot of style, but very little substance. And it may not have entirely been the fault of the filmmakers.

James Franco did a completely spectacular job in James Dean and with the performance he gave he has really set the bar for all actors everywhere, from the past and for years to come. I have a lot a trouble believing anyone will ever be able to beat that performance and he really made me open my eyes to him. In my opinion he is the greatest actor the world has ever seen and I have a feeling no one will ever be able to change that. Not only did he become my favourite actor after seeing the movie but at the same time I've become jealous that someone could have so much talent. Keep up the good work Jimmy, many people are excepting great things from you now. Three words - "James is King."