| The Motorcycle Boy |
Shortly following it‘s 1983 release, Rumble Fish was considered a form of fundamental, big screen artistry.
Audiences (especially teens, adolescents and young adults) were mesmerized by the film’s clever, no-frills
approach. This timeless, coming-of-age tale on the dark side is both visually dazzling and vividly gray. Once hip,
Rumble Fish has evolved into an amusing, stylish, cult classic with many followers and fans. Seemingly set in the
60s. Francis Ford Coppola’s distinguished take on the trendy delinquent gang films being made in droves at the
time, stands high above the norm and borders on pure genius throughout the picture‘s entirety. Rumble Fish has
a built-in gravitational pull which swiftly becomes far too compelling to resist being pulled-in. Filmed in black and
white, with the exception of the Rumble Fish themselves, the plot unveils a broody saga of two brothers, from the
wrong side of the track, struggling to exist. Abandoned by their mother to fend and care for themselves, as well as
their unemployed, bitter and cynical father (Dennis Hopper). The hopeless drunk blames and abuses his sons to
dangerous and unhealthy extremes.
The youngest of the two boys is the oblivious greaser Rusty James, (Matt Dillon) a boyishly handsome, yet
troubled juvenile lost in a humid, gloomy, concrete world. He’s the reckless, destructive leader of one of the very
few remaining bands of hooligans in the swiftly collapsing time of local street gangs. In spite of the fact gang-wars
are becoming extinct, Rusty James is indifferent to the damage created by the continuous violence and is
seemingly on a one-way path to disaster, finding a dilemma around every corner. Living in the shadows of the
memories of the older brother and ultimate turf warrior he adores, only referred to as The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey
Rourke). Rusty James yearns to fill the shoes of his big brother and keep the battles alive, but he’s a shallow
trouble magnet who lacks the art of leadership. He proves the fact by nearly getting killed in a fight the very night
The Motorcycle Boy returns from a less-than successful sabbatical in California. Right in the knick of time, he
appears, stops the fight and save his little brother’s life.
In his day, the once cleverly sly, enigmatic and fearless Motorcycle Boy led a band of more than willing soldiers
into rumbles when they were all the rage. A local living legend in his own time, not so long ago, he oozed ‘cool’.
was inordinately handsome and redundantly rebellious. As they revisit his time in California, The Motorcycle Boy
teaches his younger brother some sad life lessons while retracing the futile footsteps of the fruitless his trip to his
kid brother. He tells Rusty James he saw their estranged mother, but never quite made it to ocean, as “California
got in the way.” While Rusty James seems elated by his brother's return, he’s alarmed by his odd transformation.
He appears to be detonating..Shortly following it‘s 1983 release, Rumble Fish was considered a form of
fundamental, big screen artistry. Audiences (especially teens, adolescents and young adults) were mesmerized
by the film’s clever, no-frills approach. This timeless, coming-of-age tale on the dark side is both visually dazzling
and vividly gray. Once hip, Rumble Fish has evolved into an amusing, stylish, cult classic with many followers and
fans. Seemingly set in the 60s. Francis Ford Coppola’s distinguished take on the trendy delinquent gang films
being made in droves at the time, stands high above the norm and borders on pure genius throughout the picture
‘s entirety. Rumble Fish has a built-in gravitational pull which swiftly becomes far too compelling to resist being
pulled-in. Filmed in black and white, with the exception of the Rumble Fish themselves, the plot unveils a broody
saga of two brothers, from the wrong side of the track, struggling to exist. Abandoned by their mother to fend and
care for themselves, as well as their unemployed, bitter and cynical father (Dennis Hopper). The hopeless drunk
blames and abuses his sons to dangerous and unhealthy extremes.
The youngest of the two boys is the oblivious greaser Rusty James, (Matt Dillon) a boyishly handsome, yet
troubled juvenile lost in a humid, gloomy, concrete world. He’s the reckless, destructive leader of one of the very
few remaining bands of hooligans in the swiftly collapsing time of local street gangs. In spite of the fact gang-wars
are becoming extinct, Rusty James is indifferent to the damage created by the continuous violence and is
seemingly on a one-way path to disaster, finding a dilemma around every corner. Living in the shadows of the
memories of the older brother and ultimate turf warrior he adores, only referred to as The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey
Rourke). Rusty James yearns to fill the shoes of his big brother and keep the battles alive, but he’s a shallow
trouble magnet who lacks the art of leadership. He proves the fact by nearly getting killed in a fight the very night
The Motorcycle Boy returns from a less-than successful sabbatical in California. Right in the knick of time, he
appears, stops the fight and save his little brother’s life.
In his day, the once cleverly sly, enigmatic and fearless Motorcycle Boy led a band of more than willing soldiers
into rumbles when they were all the rage. A local living legend in his own time, not so long ago, he oozed ‘cool’.
was inordinately handsome and redundantly rebellious. , As they revisit his time in California, The Motorcycle
Boy teaches his younger brother some sad life lessons while retracing the futile footsteps of the fruitless his trip to
his kid brother. He tells Rusty James he saw their estranged mother, but never quite made it to ocean, as
“California got in the way.” While Rusty James seems elated by his brother's return, he’s alarmed by his odd
transformation. He appears to be detonating, eccentric, disturbed and reckless. As the bizarre anti-hero floats
through his own world in an isolated state from battle and drug overkill, he becomes more distant, lost in literal
deafening silence and color-blindness, deteriorates into certain doom and self-destruction.. Things go from bad
to worse as it becomes clear a local cop (William Smith) with a grudge is still gunning for the Motorcycle Boy,
waiting for him to slip up, even though the mysterious young man has taken on philosophy of life and a skeptical
view of his former power and yet he still has his admirers. Enter.. Diana Scarwid of “Mommy Dearest” also stars
as the hopelessly strung-out addict, ‘Cassandra’ who is also desperately obsessed with ‘The Motorcycle Boy.’
When his girlfriend (Diane Lane) and friends (portrayed by the up and coming Nicolas Cage and the late great
Christopher Penn, turn on him, Rusty James joins his broken mentor into the unforgettable tragic night.
*SIDE NOTE*
Two similarly based S.E. Hinton novels (Rumble Fish and The Outsiders) were developed for and released as
motion pictures nearly back-to-back in the early 80s. Ms. Hinton personally assisted Coppola in creating the
script of “Rumble Fish.”
Kathy Thompson
Audiences (especially teens, adolescents and young adults) were mesmerized by the film’s clever, no-frills
approach. This timeless, coming-of-age tale on the dark side is both visually dazzling and vividly gray. Once hip,
Rumble Fish has evolved into an amusing, stylish, cult classic with many followers and fans. Seemingly set in the
60s. Francis Ford Coppola’s distinguished take on the trendy delinquent gang films being made in droves at the
time, stands high above the norm and borders on pure genius throughout the picture‘s entirety. Rumble Fish has
a built-in gravitational pull which swiftly becomes far too compelling to resist being pulled-in. Filmed in black and
white, with the exception of the Rumble Fish themselves, the plot unveils a broody saga of two brothers, from the
wrong side of the track, struggling to exist. Abandoned by their mother to fend and care for themselves, as well as
their unemployed, bitter and cynical father (Dennis Hopper). The hopeless drunk blames and abuses his sons to
dangerous and unhealthy extremes.
The youngest of the two boys is the oblivious greaser Rusty James, (Matt Dillon) a boyishly handsome, yet
troubled juvenile lost in a humid, gloomy, concrete world. He’s the reckless, destructive leader of one of the very
few remaining bands of hooligans in the swiftly collapsing time of local street gangs. In spite of the fact gang-wars
are becoming extinct, Rusty James is indifferent to the damage created by the continuous violence and is
seemingly on a one-way path to disaster, finding a dilemma around every corner. Living in the shadows of the
memories of the older brother and ultimate turf warrior he adores, only referred to as The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey
Rourke). Rusty James yearns to fill the shoes of his big brother and keep the battles alive, but he’s a shallow
trouble magnet who lacks the art of leadership. He proves the fact by nearly getting killed in a fight the very night
The Motorcycle Boy returns from a less-than successful sabbatical in California. Right in the knick of time, he
appears, stops the fight and save his little brother’s life.
In his day, the once cleverly sly, enigmatic and fearless Motorcycle Boy led a band of more than willing soldiers
into rumbles when they were all the rage. A local living legend in his own time, not so long ago, he oozed ‘cool’.
was inordinately handsome and redundantly rebellious. As they revisit his time in California, The Motorcycle Boy
teaches his younger brother some sad life lessons while retracing the futile footsteps of the fruitless his trip to his
kid brother. He tells Rusty James he saw their estranged mother, but never quite made it to ocean, as “California
got in the way.” While Rusty James seems elated by his brother's return, he’s alarmed by his odd transformation.
He appears to be detonating..Shortly following it‘s 1983 release, Rumble Fish was considered a form of
fundamental, big screen artistry. Audiences (especially teens, adolescents and young adults) were mesmerized
by the film’s clever, no-frills approach. This timeless, coming-of-age tale on the dark side is both visually dazzling
and vividly gray. Once hip, Rumble Fish has evolved into an amusing, stylish, cult classic with many followers and
fans. Seemingly set in the 60s. Francis Ford Coppola’s distinguished take on the trendy delinquent gang films
being made in droves at the time, stands high above the norm and borders on pure genius throughout the picture
‘s entirety. Rumble Fish has a built-in gravitational pull which swiftly becomes far too compelling to resist being
pulled-in. Filmed in black and white, with the exception of the Rumble Fish themselves, the plot unveils a broody
saga of two brothers, from the wrong side of the track, struggling to exist. Abandoned by their mother to fend and
care for themselves, as well as their unemployed, bitter and cynical father (Dennis Hopper). The hopeless drunk
blames and abuses his sons to dangerous and unhealthy extremes.
The youngest of the two boys is the oblivious greaser Rusty James, (Matt Dillon) a boyishly handsome, yet
troubled juvenile lost in a humid, gloomy, concrete world. He’s the reckless, destructive leader of one of the very
few remaining bands of hooligans in the swiftly collapsing time of local street gangs. In spite of the fact gang-wars
are becoming extinct, Rusty James is indifferent to the damage created by the continuous violence and is
seemingly on a one-way path to disaster, finding a dilemma around every corner. Living in the shadows of the
memories of the older brother and ultimate turf warrior he adores, only referred to as The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey
Rourke). Rusty James yearns to fill the shoes of his big brother and keep the battles alive, but he’s a shallow
trouble magnet who lacks the art of leadership. He proves the fact by nearly getting killed in a fight the very night
The Motorcycle Boy returns from a less-than successful sabbatical in California. Right in the knick of time, he
appears, stops the fight and save his little brother’s life.
In his day, the once cleverly sly, enigmatic and fearless Motorcycle Boy led a band of more than willing soldiers
into rumbles when they were all the rage. A local living legend in his own time, not so long ago, he oozed ‘cool’.
was inordinately handsome and redundantly rebellious. , As they revisit his time in California, The Motorcycle
Boy teaches his younger brother some sad life lessons while retracing the futile footsteps of the fruitless his trip to
his kid brother. He tells Rusty James he saw their estranged mother, but never quite made it to ocean, as
“California got in the way.” While Rusty James seems elated by his brother's return, he’s alarmed by his odd
transformation. He appears to be detonating, eccentric, disturbed and reckless. As the bizarre anti-hero floats
through his own world in an isolated state from battle and drug overkill, he becomes more distant, lost in literal
deafening silence and color-blindness, deteriorates into certain doom and self-destruction.. Things go from bad
to worse as it becomes clear a local cop (William Smith) with a grudge is still gunning for the Motorcycle Boy,
waiting for him to slip up, even though the mysterious young man has taken on philosophy of life and a skeptical
view of his former power and yet he still has his admirers. Enter.. Diana Scarwid of “Mommy Dearest” also stars
as the hopelessly strung-out addict, ‘Cassandra’ who is also desperately obsessed with ‘The Motorcycle Boy.’
When his girlfriend (Diane Lane) and friends (portrayed by the up and coming Nicolas Cage and the late great
Christopher Penn, turn on him, Rusty James joins his broken mentor into the unforgettable tragic night.
*SIDE NOTE*
Two similarly based S.E. Hinton novels (Rumble Fish and The Outsiders) were developed for and released as
motion pictures nearly back-to-back in the early 80s. Ms. Hinton personally assisted Coppola in creating the
script of “Rumble Fish.”
Kathy Thompson
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