Rumble Fish

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Rumble Fish

R,

1983,

1h 34m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

78%

36 Reviews

Tomatometer

80%

10,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

78%

Tomatometer

36 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Disaffected and restless, Rusty James (Matt Dillon) is spoiling for a fight. Abandoned by his mother and living with his alcoholic father (Dennis Hopper), he hangs out with his girlfriend, Patty (Diane Lane), and his similarly aimless friends Midget (Larry Fishburne), Smokey (Nicolas Cage) and B.J. Jackson (Christopher Penn). When his brother, the Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke), returns to town, Rusty hopes to gain guidance and wisdom from someone most people think is crazy.

Critics Consensus

Rumble Fish frustrates even as it intrigues, but director Francis Ford Coppola's strong visual style helps compensate for a certain narrative stasis.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Jan 4, 2021

A myth-infused coming-of-age story that's directed with a grandly imaginative visual repertoire to match.

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Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

Dec 11, 2007

If Rumble Fish fails as a traditional movie about real people, it is beguiling as an exercise in hallucinatory style.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Dec 11, 2007

Overwrought and overthought.

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Alan Jones

Radio Times

Apr 1, 2025

4/5

The drama is extremely mannered and the symbolism a mite overdone, but it's a visually startling knockout, brilliantly filmed in moody black and white with some dashes of colour.

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Megan Fisher

Loud and Clear Reviews

Jan 11, 2025

It’s a movie that is both mythical and intimate, grounded and stylized, external and interior. Every piece of Rumble Fish is consumed by the emotions of the characters, by the tragedy of their lives and the time that is passing.

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Sean Burns

Crooked Marquee

Sep 26, 2024

The coolest movie Coppola ever made.

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Hagrid G

Jan 21, 2019

Truly one of the best films I have ever seen. The B&W sets the moos for the movie and the artistry is amazing. The moving clouds, the smoke in the streets, the cars moving slowly adds a mystique to the story that no other director has ever even thought about and the music, the music suits the film perfectly. This isn't only a movie, it a moving piece of art. I give it 10 stars!!!

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Hermione S

Dec 10, 2018

Bringing German Expressionism to teenagers had to be the least effective marketing plan of 1983.

Hermione S

Dec 2, 2018

What is the point - save yourself the torment

Abraham S

Aug 20, 2018

Negative reviewers just don't get it, perhaps because it's over their head. Deeply compelling unique film that uses symbolism effectively. Very well filmed and very unusual. Perhaps not for the average joe movie goer but that is what I love about this film.

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Hermione S

Jul 23, 2018

BEAUTIFULLY filmed and intelligently acted, Coppola and Hinton combine to create an modern "film noir" set against a DIS FUNCTIONAL family. Mickey Rourke impresses as motorcycle Boy with great support from Diane Lane.

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Leia L

Feb 6, 2018

A rowdy and generic extension of the "The Outsiders" fades into something deeply felt and poignant, stripping away all pretensions and simply pondering with help from its imaginative cinematography and sound design.

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Francis Ford Coppola

Director

Matt Dillon

Rusty James

Mickey Rourke

The Motorcycle Boy

Diane Lane

Patty

Dennis Hopper

Father

Diana Scarwid

Cassandra

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Synopsis

Disaffected and restless, Rusty James (Matt Dillon) is spoiling for a fight. Abandoned by his mother and living with his alcoholic father (Dennis Hopper), he hangs out with his girlfriend, Patty (Diane Lane), and his similarly aimless friends Midget (Larry Fishburne), Smokey (Nicolas Cage) and B.J. Jackson (Christopher Penn). When his brother, the Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke), returns to town, Rusty hopes to gain guidance and wisdom from someone most people think is crazy.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Fred Roos, Doug Claybourne
Screenwriter: S.E. Hinton, Francis Ford Coppola
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Zoetrope Studios
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 21, 1983, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 11, 2015
Runtime: 1h 34m
Sound Mix: Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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