Customer Reviews

James Dean

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a fan of James Dean, I was both anxious and excited to see this film. It is very entertaining to watch, and the performances are superb. James Franco as James Dean is absolutely captivating. He steals every scene, just as Dean always did. He has every mannerism down: his mumbling and awkward persona, the shyness that was often mistaken for rudeness. Franco even comes across as an insomniac (as Dean was). Any Dean fan will appreciate the obvious homework that Franco did to prepare for his role. And the look of 50's New York is very raw and realistic. You can almost feel what it was like to be a struggling actor in that Golden Age.

But I must also warn Dean fans that you may be upset by some of the untruthful dramatization. At the end of the film they (the filmmakers) even admit that many parts of the movie were dramatized and even imaginary! For one, Marty Landau and Christine White were not the only close friends Dean had. They were only a few of the handful of people who knew Dean. But this is a movie... time constraints, you know? The film also relies a little too heavily on Dean's relationship with his father. They make it seem as though Dean spent his entire life's existence trying to make his father proud. They also only touch on Dean's homosexual exploits for a few minutes, and in fact if I hadn't known beforehand about his "experimentation" of said subject, I probably wouldn't have even caught it in the film. But I congratulate them on having the guts to include it at all, as many people deliberately overlook it. They also turn his love affair with Pier Angeli into a "star-crossed lovers" tragedy. The film makes it seem as though Pier was his first and only love, but if you're a Dean fan you know that he loved many women. Dizzy Sheridan and Arlene Sachs, just to name a few... There is also a scene I found disturbing, in which Jimmy slaps Pier across the face and then makes love to her. I have read all about Jimmy Dean but I have never read that he ever hit Pier. But alas, movies must include conflicts...

It may seem as though everything I've written is a film-bashing review, but in truth, I love this movie! If you're an avid Dean fan you will applaude Franco's performance, but may sometimes shake your head in disapproval at the fabrications. If you are a newcomer to the Dean World, I recommend that you read some of his biographies before you watch this film, so that you will be able to pick fact from fiction. This film still deserves 4 stars... Kudos to the talented James Franco for bringing Jimmy alive!

This is quite a remarkable made for TV film about the intense, fast and tragically short life of the master of method acting; James Dean.

James Franco plays Dean so convincingly that at times it is easy to forget that this is not James Dean himself.

Bio films always take a little licence with actual facts and events and no doubt this is true here.

Overall Franco reveals his own, quite stunning and at times, moving, acting ability and it is easy to see why he is now achieving great things.

As a film `James Dean` is outstanding entertainment and I think even the man himself would be proud.

One thing which needs to be noted is that in real life Winton Dean (James` father) was not the unfeeling, uncaring man portrayed but did indeed care greatly for his son. Winton had to sell everything including his car in order to pay the medical bills when James` mother was dying and felt that young James had a better chance living with his uncle on his farm. In fact in James` letters to his father after he had remarried to Ethal they started with `Dad and Mom`. Winton also sent James money when he could. Not touched on here was the fact that Winton was also drafted during the war and went to see James when he could whilst in service. Winton was disappointed in his son`s early interest in the arts as to him it was not a manly interest, but the evidence is that Winton loved James dearly.

I was very pleased with the wonderful acting jobs from all of the stars in this film. James Franco was very authentic and believable. Michael Moriarty as Winton Dean was cast perfectly as the often indifferent and cold father. The film was made for TV so it didn't delve into James Dean's childhood very much, but what it did show gave me a good feel as to what it was like. Usually I don't notice background music in movies, but the jazzy saxophone music in this movie really gave me the feel of what New York in the 1950's was like! I highly recommend this to everyone!

I first saw this movie when it aired on TNT a few years ago and I was very impressed. I had never been a James Dean fanatic, but I wasn't indifferent either. I was born 15 months after Dean's fatal car crash and as I grew up I had heard about James Dean and saw his movies. I remember being especially moved by Dean in "East of Eden," (and falling for "Cal" alittle) when I first saw it in the 1970s. I had been told that James Dean had died in a car crash right after he finished making "Giant."

I recently bought this movie after seeing a group of Dean's friends talking about him on a special "Larry King Live." I am also reading a book about him.

James Franco does as good a job of portraying James Dean as anyone could. He did a great job of capturing mannerisms and postures, and the mumbling speech. This is a very well made movie, and a very sympathetic one. Its such a shame we didn't get to see Dean in more movie roles.

James Franco gives a remarkable performance in this excellent biopic of James Dean. The film beautifully shows James Deans rise to fame as one of Americas Idols. It also showed many things about his life that I had no idea about. His quirkiness, his rage against his father, his love for a 14 yr old, and many others. During this time James Dean was the hottest thing in Hollywood, and it was a shame he only did 3 movies. This was a very heartfelt, touching film filled with amazing performances. I had never seen a James Dean movie, but because of James Franco's remarkable performance, I plan too.

Judging from the other reviews, James Franco seems to be getting significant praise for his role...and I would have to agree. This movie was made before Spider-man, so Franco was still a pretty obscure actor (He played the Green Goblin's son in the Spider-man movie, in case any of you are wondering). He does an incredible job as James Dean, capturing perfectly the mannerisms and essence of Dean himself. It is truly a shame Franco did not receive more widespread acclaim for his role. Playing James Dean would be such a complicated and difficult role...and I can't think of an actor who could have done it better.

As for the movie itself, it does a good job of portraying the overall view of Dean's life. Of course, there are some aspects that are skimmed over (such as Dean's ambiguous sexual orientation). However, such themes would have made for a more controversial movie. So, if you want the juicy details such as those, read a biography. The movie only spends a few brief moments on Dean's high school days in Fairmount, Indiana, and his untimely death in California, choosing instead to focus on his rise to stardom circa the making of East of Eden. The movie does a perfect job of capturing the essence of New York in the 1950s, and my hat goes off to the costume designer and the casting director.
If you want to get picky, there are definite factual flaws in the movie . However, such will always be the case when doing a biographical motion picture. The acting in the movie is superb and the picture itself will leave you informed and satisfied. This movie is worthy of its title, the James Dean movie, and with Dean's unparalleled legendary status, the talent and star-power associated with him, and his millions of fans around the world, that is truly saying something.

Those who gave this one star must have a purist and extremely critical eye, one no bio-pic of Dean could live up to. Franco does an amazing portrayal of this enigmatic icon about whom many verifiable facts are obscure.

I've read biographies about Dean and the film did a great job giving us a glimpse of what he was like. Even the biographies touted some rumor and innuendo about the real Dean (and his sexual proclivities - which are of particular interest to many), and therefore the searing exposé that a least one reviewer apparently was hoping for does not and probably will never materialize -- at least not without liberal use of creative license. From the facts we have to work with on his life and various he said/she said, and with the talented soon-to-be icon Franco, this is an amazing and collectable film for all who love and admire James Dean and/or James Franco.

FIVE enthusiastic STARS!! ~ Taylor Siluwé, author of Dancing With The Devil

James Dean, the TNT movie which premiered on August 5, 2001, is a worthy piece of fiction. Most notable for the remarkable performance of James Franco, any resemblence to James Dean's real life is purely coincidental. While I am happy that a movie about James Dean's life was made because it introduces this remarkable actor to a whole new generation of people, anyone well-versed in Dean's REAL life has to come away from this TNT REEL version of it, disappointed. Dean's short life was dramatic enough without additions or embelishments. This movie takes gigantic liberties with the truth which are unneccesary and jarring. At the same time, it is an affecting drama and James Franco's performance is worthy of the Golden Globe and Critics' Choice awards he won for his portrayal of Dean. I hope that TNT's effort will inspire people to seek out and watch the original performances of one of the most gifted and unique performers in movie history--James Dean.

James Franco was superb and awsome in the role of James Dean. Usually television movies provide poor acting and story line. But this was different. It has great acting by James Franco, and so much happens in Deans life that the script can't be that poor. The only bad part is the running time, because a lot of things happen so fast, I guesse it would need to since it only runs for 95min not including commercials, it shouls have been extended by about fifteen minutes, then it would have been a perfect film. The film was awsome although it needed some changes a little, since some parts were educated guesses. But other than that, the film was awsome.

It was eerie how much the lead actor (James Franco) resembled James Dean. Not only did he look like him, but also he sounded like him, moved like him, and I could swear he was even shaped like him. Several times through the film I found myself saying out loud "Whoa, That's James Dean"! This film gave me a great appreciation for how a person can perform a scripted role so intimately with other actors in front of 40 people and a camera in a studio made to look like a little room. Leonardo was up for the role too, and though I sometimes think he's another very good actor. He just doesn't have the appropriate voice or look for the role that James Franco provided.