Now that one of the cast members of this highly memorable, but also kind of tedious and slow teen film, is no longer with us, let me remind everybody that this movie was made before anyone had ever heard of much of the cast.
The reason to see it is mainly the cast, not if you are a fan of the book because although it is more faithful to the source than the dismal That Was Then, This Is Now, you will find many omissions.
The casting is spot on and I can't think of anyone who could do better with the characters they were given. Especially Emilio Estevez as Two Bit and the aforementioned Patrick Swayze as Darrel.
So if you want to reminisce about those years gone by where things looked a little more innocent, enjoy seeing a one in a lifetime cast. Just don't expect a fun filled romp. The movie is virtually moving back in time.
The Outsiders
1983
Action / Crime / Drama
The Outsiders
1983
Action / Crime / Drama
63% - Critics
82% - Audience
7.1Keywords: based on novel or bookcoming of agegangbased on young adult novelstreet gang
Plot summary
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1965. Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis is the youngest of three orphaned brothers who live on the north side of town, the "wrong side" of the tracks. Sensitive Ponyboy used to have a good relationship with his oldest brother Darrel, but since Darrel became the household caregiver, he is always on Ponyboy's case. Caught in the middle is third brother Sodapop, who dropped out of school to work full time. They all belong to The Greasers, a gang of boys from the north side also from working class families, often broken. Ponyboy's main concern is that any problem they may encounter, especially in their Greaser activities, will lead to the authorities splitting up their family. He also believes Darrel would have outgrown them and become something in his life if it wasn't for his loyalty to the gang, and the need to take care of the family. The rest of the world sees the Greasers as all the same, the face being Dallas Winston, the most volatile one who has just been released from prison, despite each boy having his own specific view of life. Similarly, the world sees the Socs, the Greasers' primary rivals, as all the same, rich spoiled entitled boys with a sense of superiority from the south side of town, despite again each boy being his own person. A connection between the two gangs happens in the form of Ponyboy and Cherry Valance, which doesn't sit well with Cherry's Soc boyfriend, Bob Sheldon. As a result, an incident occurs involving the Socs, Ponyboy and fellow Greaser, sixteen-year-old Johnny Cade, an equally sensitive boy who wants a better life for himself, but seems stuck in a downward spiral with parents who don't give him the time of day. Beyond Ponyboy and Johnny's lives being threatened by that incident, the Greasers and the Socs agree to a rumble to settle things once and for all. Some of the boys realize the rumble will accomplish nothing, with the questions being if they can convince their colleagues of the same, and if not what the consequences will be.
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You will never see a cast like this again
Good enough
I won't lie and say I wasn't disappointed when I saw The Outsiders. I was a bit, considering it is from Francis Ford Coppola. It is well made, with great photography and great shots and camera angles. I also liked the story, it was nicely constructed and quite conventional, and the film moved briskly. The direction from Coppola is great, and the film further benefits from a great cast(Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez among others).
However, Ralph Macchio and C Thomas Howell are rather wooden and unconvincing in their roles. Plus there is some stilted dialogue, and I wasn't taken with the music score which was too over-the-top for my taste. Overall, it had flaws but it was good enough. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Stars In Training
S.E. Hinton's classic novel for young people has become a classic motion picture as well. The Outsiders with its all star cast of budding young Brat Packers reminds me a lot of the studio system films from days of yore. Francis Ford Coppola could never have afforded to pay all the players when they entered their prime earnings years which would be not to long in the future. Ironic that the biggest name in this film, Tom Cruise, has the smallest role in The Outsiders.
The main character of the film is C. Thomas Howell who is the youngest of three brothers who are orphaned with oldest Patrick Swayze raising his siblings as best he can. The middle brother is Rob Lowe. All of them are from the wrong side of the tracks of their small Oklahoma town and are just referred to as 'greasers' or 'hoods'.
In the pecking order above them are the upper middle class kids, preppies or jocks who are referred to as 'Sosh'. We never do find out exactly what the origin of the name was, probably it's in the novel. But the Soshs look down on the greasers and the greasers resent the soft life of privilege they see the other group apparently has. It's a dividing line they don't cross.
When Howell's best friend Ralph Macchio kills Leif Garrett trying to save Howell from Garrett and his friends trying to drown him, the two boys have to run away. The film follows them on their journey which contains both tragedy, but also a realization that life isn't just made up of greasers and Soshs.
Besides those already mentioned Matt Dillon and Emilio Estevez are also greasers in good standing. Dillon has a key role in the film as kind of a mentor greaser to the younger kids like Macchio and Howell.
Watching The Outsiders takes me back to my youth when I was doing basic training for the Army Reserve. I saw so many kids like the greasers in basic training for a hitch in the real army. This is exactly where the military gets a lot of its recruits, kids like the greasers who have no real life and look to get away from kind of situation all the greaser kids are in.
Francis Ford Coppola got perfect performances from his cast of budding stars. My favorite has to be Ralph Macchio as Johnny Cade. He's a kid from an abusive home who seeks acceptance and identity with the gang, he envies C. Thomas Howell for at least having the two older brothers. His scene with Howell where he sobs and wishes for a world without greasers or Soshs is a poignant heartbreaker. If Macchio didn't later become the Karate Kid, The Outsiders would have given him a career role.
The Outsiders, book and film, is destined to be a classic centuries from now. It's one of the best films from the Reagan Eighties.