OK, let’s get the obligatory part out of the way first: an awful lot of actors in this movie went on to really big careers later on. Most of them were the “greasers”. That group included C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillion, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, and Emilio Estevez. Heck, the only one listed in the opening credits whose name I did not recognize was Glenn Withrow. Toss in Diane Lane, plus apparently Nicholas Cage and Melanie Griffith in what sounds like extra roles, and that’s rather impressive since I don’t think any of them were all that well-known when this movie came out. If anything, Howell may be the least successful these days, and he’s the lead here. But I had never seen this one before from start to finish regardless.
And before someone asks, I haven’t read the book either.
Ponyboy Curtis (Howell) and his pal Johnny (Macchio) are two greasers, kids from the poor side of their small Oklahoma town that are constantly getting hassled by the socs, AKA the kids from the richer side of town. One night at a drive-in, their older friend Dally (Dillion) makes some unwanted comments to soc girl Cherry (Lane). After Dally leaves, Ponyboy and Johnny get to talking to Cherry and her friend and somewhat hit it off. However, Cherry’s soc’s boyfriend is a bit of a psycho, and after Ponyboy runs off when his older brother Darry (Swayze) gets a little too physical for his coming home late, he and Johnny are confronted by the socs again. Cherry’s boyfriend Bob (singer Lief Garrett) seems to be drowning Ponyboy in a fountain when Johnny stabs him with a knife to save his friend. Bob dies and the other socs run off. From there, Ponyboy and Johnny need to go lie low for a while, getting help getting away from Dally. Repercussions continue from there, mostly involving the boys rescuing some kids from a burning building and an epic rumble in the rain between the combined forces of the greasers and the socs. There are a lot of temptations for Ponyboy to go bad or perhaps, as he and Johnny like to say, “stay gold”. What path will he choose?
There’s actually not a lot to this plot, and maybe if I watched the “complete novel” edition, there would have been more. However, I don’t think I needed more. This is less a plot-driven narrative as a character-driven one. Ponyboy–and yes that is his name since his other brother is named Sodapop–is a gifted writer, but his economic circumstances say something else. Can he be more like the fairly innocent Johnny or the more cynical Dally? Arguably, both come to bad ends thanks to choices they make, but both impart important lessons for Ponyboy if he can observe what they are. Likewise, his brief friendship with Cherry and a talk with another soc tell him just having money doesn’t mean you don’t have problems. Heck, they seem to have the same problems the greasers have. All these kids are fairly uncertain what they want or need to be in life. They only see the other side as an enemy to vanquish for some reason.
There’s probably a good metaphor for class warfare in this story if you know where to look. It probably isn’t even that subtle.
This is a beloved movie for a lot of people of my generation, and seeing it finally, I can see why. It’s good. Ponyboy’s options are laid out as he needs to grow up and become whatever sort of man he’s going to be. Staying with the greasers suggests more of a struggle, even if they’re all like an extended family. I’m not sure any of the greasers even have parents, and if they do, I don’t recall seeing any of them. Ponyboy sure doesn’t. Darry is essentially the man of the house, and I didn’t see any serious girlfriends for any of the greasers. On the other hand, the socs are just as messed up from what little we see of their lives, and the way the story plays out, it does suggest Ponyboy has a route out of this neverending cycle of, for lack of a better word, stupidity. Nothing really gets settled by the rumble, something made all the clearer when Johnny and Dally’s final moments are recounted. This was a beautifully-made film, one that gets adolescence. Maybe I should read the book after all. If I read the closing credits correctly, the author had a small role in this movie as a waitress, after all…
Grade: B+
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