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Rating Averages
My Friends |
Not rated. () |
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All Flixster |
(4789) |
2399 |
6557 |
Female |
(2860) |
1433 |
3916 |
Male |
(1929) |
966 |
2641 |
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Plot:
In the Salinas Valley, in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron for the love of their father Adam. Cal is frustrated at every turn, fr...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:May 26, 2008Ok,finally saw my first James Dean film.What a sweet soul this guy was,What a tragedy,Who knows what he could have became,Anyway.If you are at all curious,this was great,Sad,the whole deal with him and Aaron's mom.But James or 'Cal' his character's name is definitely the main dish in this movie.His sweet,shy,slightly mischevious,quirky and very unpredicle nature was absolutely captivating.I think I am developing a whole new obsession here.I hate when I do that with dead celebs.Anyway he was great and again so sad,I can't wait to see the other movie.If you have ever been curious,do it,watch it,life is too short,Enjoy all these great films while we still have them intact.=)
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MCT:November 18, 2008
The story has elements of war, bible, brotherhood, the exuberance of youth to achieve, the frustration of being not loved by your parent.
Just to watch it O_O -
MCT:October 19, 2008
Beautiful movie with a simplistic morals. Dean is quite the entertainer, his teenager angst still lives on today.
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MCT:August 28, 2008
Ok,finally saw my first James Dean film.What a sweet soul this guy was,What a tragedy,Who knows what he could have became,Anyway.If you are at all curious,this was great,Sad,the whole deal with him and Aaron's mom.But James or 'Cal' his character's name is definitely the main dish in this movie.His sweet,shy,slightly mischevious,quirky and very unpredicle nature was absolutely captivating.I think I am developing a whole new obsession here.I hate when I do that with dead celebs.Anyway he was great and again so sad,I can't wait to see the other movie.If you have ever been curious,do it,watch it,life is too short,Enjoy all these great films while we still have them intact.=)
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MCT:July 24, 2008East of Eden is based on the John Steinbeck novel of the same name. It takes place in the California cities of Monterey and Salinas which are both about 100 miles north of where I live. The film, a period piece, takes place during the start of the first World War. In the film, Cal (James Dean) does not feel like his father cares about him. When his father loses almost all his money in a failed business attempt he decides that he will earn the money himself through war profiteering in order to win his father's love. It doesn't really seem like much of anything happens in this film so that's clearly a drawback. I haven't read Steinbeck's novel so I can't say how representative of it this film is.
The film stars the likes of James Dean, Julie Harris, and Raymond Massey. Andrews probably delivers the best performance and the rest are all decent. Dean's performance is great at times but at other times it feels awkward and forced. Jo Van Fleet received an Oscar for best supporting actress for playing the role of James Dean's mother but again, I'm confused by this selection as she only really appeared in one scene in the entire film. While her character is critical to the plot, the critical aspects do not require her to be on screen at all. The backstory told about her early on is part of what drives the plot so I'm baffled as to how she won this Oscar.
This film was decent, but I was hoping for something better. Quite often it felt like Rebel Without a Cause set forty years earlier. I probably should have watched those in the reverse order as it would probably be more correct to say Rebel Without a Cause often feels like East of Eden set forty years later. James Dean plays almost the same character and plays him in much the same way. The film addresses some major themes although they're probably addressed in much better detail in the novel which Steinbeck called his greatest ever. I think the The New York Times said it best describing this film as having "energy and intensity but little clarity and emotion". It's worth watching for a James Dean fan but not something I'd recommend for someone looking for a great film.
71/100
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UP NEXT: A lesser-known Hitchcock film, Foreign Correspondent.
