James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997) (TV)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Mardi Rustam

Writer:

Dan Sefton (writer)

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot Keywords:

James Dean | Actor | Car Crash | Independent Film | Character Name In Title

Cast

Casper Van Dien	...	James Dean
Carrie Mitchum	...	Pier Angeli
Diane Ladd	...	Mama Pierangeli
Mike Connors	...	Jack Warner
Robert Mitchum	...	George Stevens
Connie Stevens	...	Jane Deacy
Casey Kasem	...	Bill Romano
Joseph Campanella	...	Winton Dean
Janelle Paradee	...	Marisa Pierangeli
Louis D'Alto	...	Vic Damone
Monique Parent	...	Ursula
Carmen Romano	...	Elia Kazan
Dan Sefton	...	TV Director
Steve Hughes	...	Gig Young
Robin Joi Brown	...	Jennifer

Also Known As:

James Dean: Live Fast Die Young (USA) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality, brief strong language and an accident scene.

Runtime:

UK:101 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Company:

Cheeni Productions

Trivia:

Robert Mitchum's final acting role.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A poster for True Grit (1969) can be seen on the wall outside Jack Warner's office. "True Grit" was released 14 years after James Dean's death and by Paramount, not Warner Brothers.

James Dean: The Soap Opera

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.