Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Deeper than the descriptions

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Blistering performances.

I'm a great fan of James Dean and I really have very high expectations about every documentary/movie that is about his life.This movie really impressed me !The directing work was great, the plot, the cinematography and last but not least - James Franco. This guy truly amazed me, i've always liked him but in my opinion this is his best role.He made an absolutely outstanding performance.And as far as we know about the life and personality of James Dean , Franco portrayed his character very convincingly.If you've watched Dean films you'll know that he was a man with an incomparable charisma and Franco gave me the same feeling with his performance.The film is a absolute must-see if you are into James Dean life ,or biography movies at all.From my point of view , the movie is a real masterpiece and it deserves all the approval from both the critics and the audience.

I've read at least four biographies on Dean. This movie strays from what is known and takes too many unnecessary and less interesting liberties. Its also way too short. Franco does the best job he can, I suppose. Unfortunately, Jimmy was a pure genius performer that can never be brought back or even summoned up by an actor now. I mean, who could portray Brando or Phoenix really? I think the best chance of making a great film about Dean would be to have one written purely in fact. There are enough facts to do this! (Not some poorly prepared script that really doesn't show Deans true story) Also, in my mind..a biographical film would have to be animated with some new technology to look great and come close to any authenticity. And as they took Brandos voice and created a new performance for him in the last Superman movie,maybe they could do so with Dean in another biographical picture. I think this would be the best chance at a great telling of Dean's story. It would be almost as if it were coming from Dean himself if it were done correctly and with the highest of standards. There wouldn't be another actor really standing in the way. No disrespect to Franco. I think hes grown into a good actor. I applaud the decent attempt on Francos part. I applaud the producers for their attempt as well. Making a film is very hard. Making a good one seems damn near impossible. I do however think the producers here were lazy in their excavation of Dean. I do understand that this is a made for TV movie and is going to have limitations. I just don't understand how they could have chosen to tell his story without really diving into his story. The truth of it is way better than some of the fiction that this film conjured up. :^)

James Dean led a phenomenal life. Having achieved so much in only 24 years, it is an extremely hard task to document the most significant events of his life in just 90 minutes, but this film doesn't even try. It plays like a cheap soap opera, and portrays Dean as the lonely protagonist who just wants his fathers love and respect. Some aspects of this film seem pointless, if not insulting, like the character James Dean providing the narration for this film. The three films he appeared in are only skimmed over, and this film goes to great lengths to portray what a troubled soul Dean actually was, how he was haunted by demons of his own past, rather than the good things he actually did for the world of cinema. This is not to say that the film fails completely, not by any means. The actor playing Dean is well cast and gives an exceptional performance, and the production design is faultless. If you just want a cursory insight into James Dean then this film is the way to go. If you yearn to find out the real James Dean story then look elsewhere.

I saw James Franco in CITY BY THE SEA with Robert Deniro for the first time......,and said man that guy could play James Dean!!! not realizing that he did a year earlier.So I went out and rented it. He was amazing in it. it didn't matter what you thought of the movie because his performance made up for it. I was blown away. I repeat.............. I saw James Franco in CITY BY THE SEA with Robert Deniro for the first time......,and said man that guy could play James Dean!!! not realizing that he did a year earlier.So I went out and rented it. He was amazing in it. it didn't matter what you thought of the movie because his performance made up for it. I was blown away.sorry to repeat myself but the 10 line rule really sucks!...if you can say it in less.