Tag Archives: Gangs

The Outsiders Review

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It’s time for a film about a bunch of teenagers who grew up in a rather rough town and basically had to adapt to survive. Unfortunately due to this there aren’t very many winners at all. By the end of the film everyone’s really in a bit of trouble and none of the characters are all that likable. There’s definitely a lot going on here but mainly I’d call it more of a depressing film half the time.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Ponyboy and Johnny. They’re good friends who generally try living their lives without causing trouble but the town is divided into two gangs and so they are members of one group (Greasers) and do have to fight when the others show up. (SOCS) They generally all get along in the first gang but things always escalate with the other one. Well, one day in self defense Johnny murders a member of the opposing gang while protecting Ponyboy and now he has to be on the run. Can they ever get their normal lives back?

It’s definitely a film with a fairly slow pace as a lot of it is the characters reflecting about life an just what it means to live in a society. Johnny and Ponyboy have to stay at different hideouts for a while but things continue to escalate and more and more people die. The reason I would say this is a depressing film is because of all that. Sure the characters learn some lessons about how violence isn’t worth it and how the squabbles shouldn’t take over your life. That said, everyones’ lives are ruined by that point so does it really matter? I can see how this i s listed as a coming of age movie but usually you’d expect those to be a little happier. This one’s just grim for pretty much the entire duration.

Also right off the bat the film doesn’t do the best job of making the Greasers all that likable. One of their members is a guy named Dallas who goes around aggressively flirting with the ladies, is into shady clubs and runs around with a gun causing trouble. Yes the film does show that he really cares about Ponyboy and the rest of his friends but he’s still not shown as a particularly good character. He’s a complex character to be sure but a little more heroic would be nice.

I dare say the most heroic character was Darry who did his best trying to keep Ponyboy and Sodapop on the straight and narrow. It was just difficult doing it on his own while he’s still a kid himself. At least I would say he installed a decent amount of goodness into them compared to the others. Ponyboy for example really didn’t want to be fighting and getting into trouble. He seemed like a good kid who would be defending his friends. He did defend the girl at the movie theater who was being harassed so a scene like that goes a long way.

The film is at its best when it’s about Ponyboy and Johnny just enjoying their friendship and having a good time. It’s a nice breather from everything constantly going wrong for them. Johnny was also a really good friend. He stepped up to save Ponyboy even at the expense of his future and throughout the movie he was a really good friend to have. Probably the most likable character out of the group.

We get to see Johnny take a huge risk to save a lot of lives later on which is something some of the other characters probably would have hesitated with. It’s a shame that the characters couldn’t all let bygones be bygones by that point but we do end up needing to have one more big fight in the end. The film does go to show that some of the SOCS are reasonable and don’t actually want to fight. In that respect the film keeps it realistic with both gangs having some good people in them.

Unfortunately when they are in a crowd there is ultimately not enough of them to stop the gang activities as a whole. I’m always a bit iffy on this since I feel like you just need to leave the gang then and not be a part of this. It’s just easier said than done in a small town where everyone is a part of one of the two gangs. So if you try to leave then you may not end up living through that experience. Which in a way proves the point of how dangerous they are.

I like to think that after the definitive gang fight at the end there won’t be any more rumbles since everyone learned their lesson but at the same time a part of you kind of doubts it. Well, it’s definitely good that the gang culture isn’t nearly as mainstream now as it was then. Of course gangs will always exist but it’s not like every teenager is in on it nowadays the way they all are in this film.

Overall, I think the film could have done with being a little more lighthearted. Tone down the body count by one or two so there is something to really celebrate by the end. It certainly succeeds in being really emotional and somber the whole time but that usually limits a film’s potential. Sure things are finally going to be looking up after the final events since the cycle of violence is finally ended but it came at a massive cost. This is a film that wouldn’t have a lot of replay value because it would just make for a tough watch. There’s a lot happening in the movie so you’ll never be bored but ultimately that’s just not enough to make it really solid. I would say to give this one a skip.

Overall 4/10

On the Waterfront Review

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I haven’t seen too many films about unions and the mob getting mixed up in some dirty dealings so this made for a fun watch. The union is definitely a powerful thing that you always want to encourage and help grow. Without them employees are easily bullied and exploited all over the place. It’s why I always say it’s better to take a lower paying job that has a union, aka job security over a high paying one where you can be fired at will. It’s just a world of difference in how much you will stress out about things on a day to day basis and in a way life just becomes easier. Of course it’s not a blanket rule and there are many people who enjoy great jobs out of the union. As with almost everything, it will be a case by case basis but on the whole I do support unions. Clearly they do need oversight though or you get an incident like the Waterfront happening behind your back.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Terry who tricks a guy into walking through a fatal ambush. Basically this guy was going to speak with some detectives about the corruption on Waterfront and the mafia wasn’t having that. Terry regrets what he did though because he didn’t realize that the mob was going to murder this guy. He figured they would just rough him up but now he’s in too deep to get out. Basically this segment of the union is run by Johnny who and for all intents and purposes it is the mafia. He chooses who gets to earn money and live an easy life while the others scramble for pennies and go home hungry. Terry and his brother Charley have fairly high positions within the mafia and so they are taken care of but Terry feels guilty all the same.

Edie, the sister of the man who was destroyed resolves to do something about this and she gets Father Barry to help her out with this. Together they aim to take a stand and get someone to cooperate with the police in outing the mobsters. This does put them in the crosshairs of the villains though so Terry is going to have to make a choice and soon. If he stands by and lets them get murdered then it is as if he did the deed himself and if he helps them out then he may die. Time is no longer on his side.

I think Terry was a bit naïve in believing that the mob would spare the first guy in the opening scene though. From the mob’s perspective he’s a squealer and no matter what kind of gang you go to, that is obviously frowned upon. They were always going to use him as an example and I suppose in this case Terry just didn’t have enough street smarts to recognize that. He wisens up a bit as the film goes on but even by the end he didn’t always seem to be very quick on the uptake. Near the end of the film his brother Charley tries to convince him to confirm that he won’t talk to the detectives and Terry keeps saying that he is unsure. He doesn’t realize that this is a final plea to him because Terry is slated to be destroyed and it has to be spelled out for him.

Throughout the film Terry seems to underestimate the level of trouble that he’s in and it just strikes me as a bit odd. He doesn’t seem like someone who would be that sheltered from the mob and the cruel realities of life. I guess in a way his brother Charley did a good job of shielding him from the worst elements. Ultimately Charley is a villain here particularly as he knew exactly what he was doing the whole time. Still, I can appreciate that he looked out for his brother all the way to the end and was willing to sacrifice himself to buy more time.

Meanwhile Johnny made for a solid villain. He’s the kind of guy who rules through fear and never forgets how he rose to the top. He’s stayed in shape and is still quite strong. He’s not going to be taking down a professional boxer or anything like that but against the average joe you have to believe that he would do pretty well. He’s good at baiting Terry (You also just blame Terry for being a bit too reactive at times) and it’s easy to see why he managed to climb to the top. Johnny may not be a good guy but he knows his way around the streets.

Barry ends up doing a good job here as well since he puts himself in a lot of danger as well and doesn’t waver. He’s willing to go the distance on this one and so even when some people die, you know that he’s not going to give up. In those days as a member of the church he would have been in 0 danger if he had just stayed within the church. So it was courageous of him to go out there and really risk his life like that. I’d say he was the best character here.

Then you have Edie who was also proactive in doing her best to get to the bottom of this and really try to avenge her brother. She attends the meetings and really gets the ball rolling. Without her kicking things off it is extremely likely that nothing would have been done. She has to take a whole lot of credit in getting things set up here.

One weak area of the film is the romance though. You just can’t convince me that someone would fall for the man who assisted in murdering her brother. Yes we know it was an accident but even so I just don’t see how you move past that. Maybe after a lot of years or something but short term it’s just not going to happen. That’s such a personal thing that you can’t simply get over it. Nah the film should have cut the romance angle out since it’s not like this was really going to enhance the story in any way.

My one issue narratively is in the climax how nobody helps Terry. The whole group in the union feel extremely soft here. You’re telling me that after the boss has finally been pretty much dethroned and you’re at the end of the race, nobody is going to help out? Surely there would be either enough resentment or comradery to get one of them to jump in and land some serious damage. Terry was beating Johnny one on one and only lost because it became a 4 against 1. There were dozens and dozens of other workers watching from a very close distance. They should have jumped in to help. It was such a bad scene here because it instantly makes the ending lose a lot of punch since they didn’t help out. When the chips were down Terry was alone and that goes against the whole ending where everyone is in solidarity. It would have meant so much more if they helped him take down the attackers and then walked in with him.

Throughout the film it felt like they were starting to gain some confidence too. That they all had enough and were willing to fight back but I guess that wasn’t to be. In the end the fear Johnny engrained in them ran far too deep and that’s unfortunate. Would have been nice if the detectives showed up or something to lead him away in handcuffs too since he lost the court case. There are a lot of charges you could throw at him at that point and compound them into the previous verdict but the detectives basically vanished early on.

Now there was one scene that did hurt the film near the end and it comes out of nowhere. There is this random subplot where Terry likes raising a bunch of pigeons as a side gig and naturally it ends with all of them being murdered by some psychotic kids. They should definitely be in jail and got off way too easy here. It’s pretty rough because they murdered a whole flock of birds here and suffer absolutely no penalty. It’s another way of showing how Terry burned all of his bridges by going against the mob but you didn’t have to include this plot at all. It’s definitely the most tragic moment in the film and the sheer body count is also astounding.

Overall, On The Waterfront is a very engaging movie even if it did lose a lot of momentum in the end. You’ve got a solid script here and a good atmosphere in the background. The scene where the villains call Terry out was really good because you knew that he could die if he went down there and yet he had to because his brother was being used as bait. You can also see how stressful it is to be within a gang because you can be in their good graces one moment and then they turn on you in the blink of an eye. The best way to survive is to simply avoid them from the start. Part of the dilemma here was that some people really had no other opportunities which is why Johnny lasted for so long. There was no real witness protection with how everyone was getting bumped off so it made for a very negative cycle. It’s definitely good that Edie and Barry were here to close out the situation once and for all.

Overall 5/10

Reefer Madness Review

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This film’s quite old and surprisingly short. It’s almost like watching an informercial to an extent where there’s a general plot but it’s all built around a message. Definitely not a bad thing per say but unfortunately you do feel like the story wasn’t given a lot of attention. The characters just aren’t very good and that’s an issue because you need to have characters you can root for. You don’t really have anyone like that here though and the ending’s pretty bad which doesn’t help matters either.

The film starts off by having a principal give a stern lecture about why drugs are no good. In particular he singles out Marijuana as the most dangerous one of all. Mainly because of how easy it is to distribute and the fact that we won’t be getting rid of it anytime soon due to how it grows all over the place. Try as they may to stop it, people have been receiving it in cities around the world. He urges the students to crack down on this and not to weaken. Meanwhile, Mae and Jack have other plans for the school. They have been distributing drugs for a long time and have now decided to start targeting students as an untapped market. This works out very easily for them which is unfortunate. It’s as simple as inviting the gang over to their place and handing them the drugs. Slowly but surely they work on getting the rest of the characters.

Bill is effectively the lead here and he’s a nice enough kid. He likes playing tennis, has a nice girlfriend, and just has a well rounded life. Even his grades are really good. Unfortunately he is yet another character with a weak will here. The villains get to him pretty quickly and aside from the drugs he even gets involved in an affair. There was definitely no way you would like Bill past this point. He really just doesn’t do a good job of handling the situations. Mary is a solid heroine but she does falter a bit too quickly when going to the house of the drug dealers. Naturally she doesn’t know she is smoking Marijuana and thinks it’s just a normal old cigarette but that’s why you shouldn’t be smoking in the first place.

Now, it should be said that there is a big difference between smoking and doing drugs of course. One is flat out illegal (or was at the time) while the other is just fatal for your health. Naturally I advise not doing either one of those activities or even drinking beer. You should just stick to soda or root beer. Anything that causes you to not be in your normal state of mind just doesn’t sound like a good idea. It’s one of those things where even if it was legal unless you need something for medicinal purposes or some kind of serious injury then it just doesn’t seem like a good idea.

So the film does have a good motive here of trying to get people not do to drugs by showing how it can wreck your life completely. Bill’s grades go down, he loses his best friend, and his reputation has been forever tarnished. Others aren’t able to cope with the guilt ad break down. At the end of the day none of the characters were better off from doing drugs and that’s what the film wanted to point out. It does so in a rather grim way which is to be expected but doesn’t make the film any better. It would have been nice if the principal could have figured out what was going on a little sooner and put a stop to it. He had his suspicions of course but at the end of the day he just wasn’t able to do anything about it which was the problem.

Meanwhile from the villains Jack was unapologetically evil the whole time as he gave drugs to the kids. He’s definitely not a likable character in the slightest but recognizes his place in things. He even offers to shoot one of the students to keep the whole thing under wraps. Then you’ve got Mae who keeps saying they shouldn’t be doing this but at the end of the day she still goes through with everything. Whenever a villain hesitates like this or keeps saying that they should stop you can’t take her seriously because she’s still along for the ride. It sounds like she’s just trying to take the moral high ground for later on but it doesn’t work. Particularly with such an active role she had in corrupting Bill. Both villains were definitely on the evil side whether one made objections or not.

Overall, Reefer Madness definitely shows that it’s madness to do drugs. Especially when you’ve already got a very good life you need to not get greedy. While there is no situation where you should pick up the Marijuana at least you can see how someone would be desperate enough to do so if their lives were in shambles. A rich kid who has an excellent set of friends, grades, and seems generally content getting mixed up in all of this? That’s definitely a mistake you don’t want to see happen. While the film has some good messages here I would ultimately say to take a pass on this one. By now I’d say you will have seen enough posters and essays on why drugs are bad in the real world so you don’t have to sit through a whole film to understand the message.

Overall 3/10