James Dean: Live Fast, Die Young

James Dean: Race With Destiny (a.k.a James Dean: Live Fast, Die Young) is a terrible movie that disgraces a screen legend. The production values are painfully low, and coupled with the shoddy acting, the resulting feel is that you're watching a soap opera. And a bad one, at that.

Why anyone though Casper Van Dien could play James Dean evades me. He was fine in "Sleepy Hollow," and other films, but this is clearly not a role for him. To make matters worse, his performance is terrible. The film portrays Dean as a rude buffoon. Although I have seen "Rebel Without A Cause," I don't know much about Dean himself, but I've often heard he was actually quite shy. If this is in fact the case, the film severely misrepresents him.

The script is also poor, complete with ridiculous stereotypes such as Pier Angeli's mother saying "bonjourno," and "gratzi" every 25 seconds, as though the viewer needs to be reassured that she's Italian. There are also visual blunders. In the opening sequence, Dean is in the middle of a race, and happens to be sporting a modern racing helmet, instead of a 1950s one. Things like that might have been excusable if the overall production was better, but it isn't.

Instead of suffering through this terrible affair, check out "James Dean," starring James Franco. That film is great in its own right, but it's downright genius compared to this waste of time.

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.

I just saw James Dean: Live fast Die young, and somewhat (if not very) dissapointed of the film. I'm not an actor but I watch movies, especially classic movies, religiously. Putting Casper Van Dien as Jimmy Dean in this picture is a sin, he did a very dissapointing job portraying Dean. My most dissapointment goes for the team that made this film. Back in those days smoking was COOL! And Van Dien couldn't even drag a cigarette. The Lighting is biased, did they try to make look like an old movie, or what? The same goes to the motorcycle- riding scene. But it is good to see that somebody finally decide to make a movie about America's Legend. But I am sorry that I bought this DVD instead of renting it... =) Peace to all of you

This despite its title is a love story rather than a biopic of James Dean . The film starts with a voice over from Pier Angeli and the first 40 minutes revolves around her romance with James Dean which is a severe disappointment if you`re watching this expecting to learn much about the legend that was James Dean . The only bits that rise above mediocre is when the film ignores the love story and concentrates on Dean`s career , his fireworks with the Hollywood film makers , and his explanation on " Group dynamics " to a young gang leader . But that`s not enough to save the film from being a waste of time . And I`d just like to add my voice to the chorus that if it wasn`t for the inclusion of a few swear words I would have staked my life that this was a TVM . It contains all the production values and flaws that TVMs are infamous for

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.