James Dean: Race with Destiny

Being a fan of James Dean and his films I jumped at the chance to see this film. I was aware going in that it had a low budget and mostly unknown cast. But I thought the allure of Dean and the era of film making would be interesting enough to not require expensive sets or name actors. Long story short, I was wrong. Sometimes the most important part missing is a lack of capable direction.

Casper Van Dien does what he can with a badly written script. No set pieces are explored anything further than a two shot exchange. The scene where Van Dien playing 'Dean' meets with the leader of a local gang is an example. What could have been an interesting look at Dean's preparation for his role in Rebel Without A Cause becomes a clumsy exchange between the two actors. The dialogue feels awkward and unrehearsed.

All supporting actors bring nothing to their roles. Diane Ladd uses every Italian cliché she can think of. Carrie Mitchum as Pier Angeli is tolerable but forgettable. And sadly this is Robert Mitchum's final role playing Giant director George Stevens.

One thing that really annoyed me was the lack of accuracy regarding the clothing. Aside from looking at a distance like the 50's, up close it didn't hold up to closer viewing. Van Dien could have been playing any L.A. 20 something in dressed down clothes. His attire was just cheap, generic clothing cobbled together to look simple. Only "Rebel's" red windbreaker was replicated for the movie.

On a positive note Casper Van Dien did an excellent job replicating a now infamous Dean clip warning drivers about the dangers of speeding. It's possibly the best scene in the film. It was the first time I was able to literally sit up take notice of Van Dien's acting. I wonder what preparation he did for the role. And secondly the final scene is very well shot. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where a lot of the planning and budget went. It was well directed, acted and shot.

All in all though this film still only gets a 3.3/10. You're better off watching "James Dean" with James Franco. A far better telling of Dean's life and legacy.

Try as he may Casper Van Dien could not overcome the bad casting as James Dean in James Dean: Race With Destiny. I'm not sure anyone could have played the part and not be criticized as Dean has become such an iconic figure for America's young.

He does his best, but the guy who played such an All American hero as John Rico in Starship Troopers and made a terrifically hunky screen Tarzan is just too white bread for the part of James Dean. Van Dien just does not suggest a rebel persona that would be so essential to playing Dean. Maybe the late River Phoenix or Leonardo DiCaprio might have done justice to the role, but they themselves have some rather fixed images.

The story line is about roughly the last year of Dean's 24 year time on earth. We meet him first making East of Eden and driving folks like Jack Warner and director Elia Kazan crazy with his driving. When not successful in wooing Pier Angeli, Dean courts other women like an up and coming Ursula Andress and spends his time racing his motorcycle or his automobile.

If we're to believe this, all might have gone well for Dean and Angeli had they been able to settle down and marry. Sad to say though Dean could not overcome the handicap of not being Italian. Pier Angeli and her sister Marisa Pavan were dominated by their mother in the same way as Jean Harlow was, as Natalie Wood was. Diane Ladd plays the domineering mother and she's got a husband picked out for Pier in the person of singer Vic Damone. Jimmy's willing to become the best Catholic ever, but can't change his ancestry.

Of course one big flaw in this film is that it completely ignores James Dean's other sexual side. It's been reported in any number of places that Dean had a gay side to him. That might have been more of a problem than not being Italian.

Casper Van Dien's wife at the time, Carrie Mitchum plays Pier Angeli. She is the granddaughter of that other screen icon Robert Mitchum and the Van Diens got Mitchum to play a couple of scenes as director George Stevens of Giant. In a few months Mitchum would be no longer with us and it's horrifying to see the ravages of lung cancer in him.

Though I think Casper Van Dien was miscast as James Dean, I'm not sure even the alternatives I mentioned could have stood up to the criticism leveled at this film. James Dean still looms large in our collective conscious, maybe too large.

I really love James Dean, but I really truly hated this movie. It was a terrible portrayal on his behalf. James Dean was really really shy in real life, and the only way we saw that was when we saw him talk about racing when he was filming his shoot on the cowboy movie. Overall I thought this was a terrible portrayal on Dean himself and a disgrace to him. If you want to do a realistic story, do it right please.

I bought this movie because I have enjoyed the few films that Casper Van Dien has made. He does a credible job of portraying James Dean. Details of his Hollywood life came out that I had not known at the time of Dean's life (i.e. his relationships with Pier Angeli and Ursula Andress). What proved most discouraging were the "terrible" Italian accents (particularly from an accomplished actress like Diane Ladd) and from the Mitchum girl. I also found the background music uneven and sometimes so loud the dialog was muted. What might have been a good film came off as pretty amateurish.

Although "James Dean: Live Fast, Die Young" is a very poorly rated film on IMDB, I chose to watch it anyway because it turns out to be Robert Mitchum's last film...even though, sadly, he's only a bit player in this movie.

The film is about the final couple of years in James Dean's life. In particular, it focuses on his relationship with actress Pier Angeli, but also in the short time after this to his untimely death. A few bigger name stars appear in the film (Mike Connors, Robert Mitchum and Connie Stevens) but most of the film rests on Casper Van Dien as Dean.

So is it any good? Well, the casting was iffy. The actors chosen to play Dean and Angeli were pretty good matches to the actual people. Mike Connors looked absolutely nothing like the head of Warner Brothers, Jack Warner. I assume they simply could get Connors so they stuck him in this role....same with Mitchum.

How about the rest of the film? Well, the story is reasonably close to the truth this portion of the lives of Angeli and Dean, though the film never mentions or alludes to Dean's being bisexual (see IMDB trivia for more on this) and this does seem like a big omission. The acting is okay...perhaps a bit too brooding as I had a hard time believing Dean was always this way in real life. Perhaps he was an obnoxious and whiny guy as you see in much of the movie....but if that wasn't him, then the film is a bit of a disservice to his memory. I just don't know about this, though the character being THAT broody and hard to like made the film a bit tough to continue watching. Overall, a film that die-hard fans of Dean will enjoy...others, perhaps, might just wanna skip this one.