The Outsiders Essay

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The Outsiders is a 1983 American coming-of-age crime drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is an adaptation of the 1967 novel of the same name by S. E. Hinton and was released on March 25, 1983, in the United States. Jo Ellen Misakian, a librarian at Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, California, and her students were responsible for inspiring Coppola to make the film.The film is noted for its cast of up-and-coming stars, including C. Thomas Howell (who garnered a Young Artist Award), Rob Lowe, in his feature film debut, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane. The film helped spark the Brat Pack genre of the 1980s. Dillon would also star in two more films based on Hinton novels: …show more content…

He calls Darrel to meet him in the park and help hide him. Police arrived first, surrounding Dallas. He commits suicide by cop, pointing an empty firearm at them. The judge exonerates Ponyboy for Bob's death in court and places him in Darrel's custody. Later at school, Cherry sees Ponyboy and ignores him. He is offered a passing grade by his English teacher if he writes a quality, personal experience essay, but is uninspired. Inside Johnny's copy of Gone with the Wind, he finds a letter explaining how saving the children was worth sacrificing his life, and advising Ponyboy to "never change", thus "stay gold". Johnny's letter inspired Ponyboy's essay, "The Outsiders". The story begins: "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home. ". == Cast == In addition, Sofia Coppola (credited as Domino), daughter of the film's director, plays the child asking the greasers for 15 cents, and S. E. Hinton plays Dally's nurse. Brief uncredited appearances include Melanie Griffith and Heather Langenkamp. Additionally, Nicolas Cage (Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew), Michael Peter Balzary (bassist "Flea" from Red Hot Chili Peppers), and Cam Neely (former NHL player and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame) had uncredited appearances as rival gang members during the rumble scene. == Production …show more content…

The site's consensus reads, "The cracks continue to show in Coppola's directorial style, but The Outsiders remains a blustery, weird, and fun adaptation of the classic novel." Roger Ebert awarded the film two and a half out of four stars, citing problems with Coppola's vision, "the characters wind up like pictures, framed and hanging on the screen." Metacritic gave the film a score of 45, indicating "mixed or average reviews".The film's casting directors, Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins, wrote in a 2007 book that the film's realistic portrayal of poor teenagers "created a new kind of filmmaking, especially about teenagers — a more naturalistic look at how young people talk, act, and experience the world. This movie was one of the few Hollywood offerings to deal realistically with kids from the wrong side of the tracks, and to portray honestly children whose parents had abused, neglected, or otherwise failed them. "Stéphane Delorme, in his book on Coppola, wrote: "The Outsiders is a wonder. And wonder is also the subject of the film. Stay Gold says the song over the title credits. The artificiality of the rural setting, which is as fake as in The Night of the Hunter, places us in the distant, mythical past. It takes only dye to turn these blond heads into golden heads, and thus to go from nostalgia for one's youth in the 1960s to a general regret for a golden

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