Mic Eddy is a homeless, with red hair and pale skin and an
outgoing disposition. He's in his twenties, and has obtained and lost some
jobs, but he doesn't care about that. What tears him apart is the lack of
respect that he experiences daily, because, frankly, everybody dislikes him. He
acts like a child, gets in people's faces, destroys property without thinking.
He does this because he must have attention and if he can't get positive
attention, he'll get whatever attention he can. He drinks so that the
negativity that surrounds him doesn't bother him. Honestly, he's a friendly,
gregarious, fun-loving person. But he is caught in a cycle of doing all the can
to obtain respect, but losing it with every outgoing step he makes.
I thought about Mic throughout this whole film. The film is
focused on the relationship between disheartened teens and their broken
parents, but deeper it has to do with honor and what one would do to obtain
honor. And what one lives with when honor isn't available, or at least the kind
of honor that really matters.
There are a number of weaknesses to the film, not the least
of which that I recognize a couple actors from later television sitcoms
(although I recognize that isn't their fault-- actors gotta work. But every
time I see James Dean's father I see Hurston Howell III, and wonder if Dean's
character isn't called Jim Howell...). Occasionally the actors are playing out
a silly set of lines, or a shot looks too obvious or purposely pretentious. The
fact that all the movement and emotional changes happen within a 36 hour period
is a bit too fast.
But when this movie works, it is tremendous. The game of
"chicken" is bursting with cinematic power. James Dean is perfect,
innovative, hard to take my eyes off of him. The movie captures my attention and
doesn't let go. Despite its shortcomings, I can see why this is counted among
one of the greats of cinema history and deserves its lofty reputation.
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