Philip Kaufman will soon be laughing all the way to the bank when Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is released. He is the co-creator of the character Indiana Jones along with George Lucas.
The Wanderers shares much with Lucas's American Graffiti which was a coming of age film with a wall to wall 1950s soundtrack.
The Wanderers is set in 1963 and aims to be more ribald and grittier. The Wanderers are an Italian-American gang at high school decked out in baseball jackets. Their leader is Richie (Ken Wahl) more interested in making out with a local girl than fighting. Especially the older gang called the Fordham Baldies.
Other high school gangs are drawn along racial lines and there is an initial ruckus with the black students which leads to a rumble arranged without guns and knives. It later evolves into a football match so the community elders can place bets on the outcome.
This is an episodic movie of young people emerging in a nation that is about to change. JFK is assassinated and Bob Dylan is singing about The Times They Are A-Changin'.
It climaxes with a big showdown with the toughest Bronx gang the Ducky Boys, when the other gangs reunite to take them on. The Ducky Boys are shown to be silent and surreal. Maybe they represent adulthood or the upcoming Vietnam war.
Many of the Fordham Baldies have been inadvertently recruited to the marines, so they can have a reason to fight.
Kaufman who directed and co-adapted the novel by Richard Price is unsure with the material. Not crudely funny enough to be like Porky's or Animal House. It does not have the pure nostalgia appeal of American Graffiti. It lacks the violent action of The Warriors.
The Wanderers shares much with Lucas's American Graffiti which was a coming of age film with a wall to wall 1950s soundtrack.
The Wanderers is set in 1963 and aims to be more ribald and grittier. The Wanderers are an Italian-American gang at high school decked out in baseball jackets. Their leader is Richie (Ken Wahl) more interested in making out with a local girl than fighting. Especially the older gang called the Fordham Baldies.
Other high school gangs are drawn along racial lines and there is an initial ruckus with the black students which leads to a rumble arranged without guns and knives. It later evolves into a football match so the community elders can place bets on the outcome.
This is an episodic movie of young people emerging in a nation that is about to change. JFK is assassinated and Bob Dylan is singing about The Times They Are A-Changin'.
It climaxes with a big showdown with the toughest Bronx gang the Ducky Boys, when the other gangs reunite to take them on. The Ducky Boys are shown to be silent and surreal. Maybe they represent adulthood or the upcoming Vietnam war.
Many of the Fordham Baldies have been inadvertently recruited to the marines, so they can have a reason to fight.
Kaufman who directed and co-adapted the novel by Richard Price is unsure with the material. Not crudely funny enough to be like Porky's or Animal House. It does not have the pure nostalgia appeal of American Graffiti. It lacks the violent action of The Warriors.