Rumble Fish (closed)

In Francis Ford Coppola’s 'art film for teenagers', Matt Dillon plays Rusty James, a dopy delinquent desperate to achieve the legendary status of his older brother: 'The Motorcycle Boy' (Mickey Rourke). The two have been raised by their alcoholic father (Dennis Hopper), whose affection for classical references he shares with Rourke’s philosophising hoodlum. After his brother returns from an odyssey to California, Rusty James wrestles with his inadequacies as he tries to prove himself a worthy leader of his crew of miscreants. Written by Coppola during the production of The Outsiders (and also adapted from an S. E. Hinton novel) Rumble Fish is a dreamy, expressionist portrait of wasted youth.