An appealing rookie effort by James Bridges that has its moments. Yes, the quality is uneven but its melancholy, nostalgic undercurrent echoes Dean's effect on the disaffected youth of the "innocent" Fifties, the first generation to register his impact. Offbeat, quirky and, yes, melodramatic, "September 30, 1955" captures adolescent confusion, longing and the death of innocence, paralleling Dean's own untimely death. The day-for-night closing fade-out and elegiac music foreshadow a sleepy generation soon to lose its Saturday-night youth to rapid, startling change. Throughout, Dean's presence is often eerily palpable in an admittedly lesser effort that deserves a greater following.
Review of September 30, 1955
