Matt Dillon was the MVP of this film
Just sayin....they're all great...but Dillon gets the belt
share
I can't disagree with that, although honestly I didn't see a "wow" acting performance in that entire group. Dillon was the best of the lot I guess.
Second thought is that Machio was (strangely) dead on as Johnny. I saw a range and nuances in him in this film that he never equaled again in my opinion.
I can agree with that. There wasn't a "wow" performance in the group. But recently re-watching first time in a long time Dillon I felt was the standout of this particular film. He, I feel is also the one who when this movie comes up is the one people talk about the least.
But yeah as a whole the group did well, not great, but good. You can certainly why everyone in this cast blew up the way they did. Some obviously more so than others
Dillon did well portraying Dallas as an Alpha. In Dillon's early work (My Bodyguard, etc...) he always came off as kinda dopey and a punk. (Scrawny.....dopey, punk voice....hair slicked back, etc). But he starts to come into his own from this movie on.
What surprised me in his subsequent work are his COMEDIC chops. He was hysterical in Something About Mary.
I very much disagree, I actually think they all showed some of their strongest acting in this film. they're able to show a range of emotions throughout the whole thing. you do have to think about the source material it was based around. a lot of people do talk about dillon's acting by the way, so you and the poster saying he isn't appreciated as much is news to me.
although what you said about johnny, I thought the exact same thing. I don't think I've ever seen him give a performance like he did in the outsiders. he knew exactly what to do with that role.
It might have been the source material, yes. I had to read this in HS back in the '70s, and although the story was interesting enough to keep this ADD person interested enough to finish it, I thought the characters were shallow and unnatural (I grew up in a tough neighborhood and these "greasers" didn't capture that.
So I will admit I went in to watching this with me holding my nose (my wife wanted to watch it), and I found the movie no less interesting than the book (for good or bad), but I found little in way of actor standouts except for the two I mentioned. I thought Dillon and Macchio's characters were better than the book.
Everyone has different experiences. Personally I didn't see them as shallow, I mean they had very difficult lives.I'd say I agree with you about Matt Dillon and Ralph Macchio, although they played the characters practically the same as they were in the book. Dillon might have amped it up a little more making Dallas better even though he was pretty likable in the novel.
share
With regard to Maccio, he showed what I think was a lot of nuance as Johnny, something I don't believe he's shown in any role since (and I generally liked him in KK and Cobra Kai).
I love the karate kid series! He plays all of his roles very well, but the character of Johnny was meant for him, like Ralph IS Johnny.
share