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‘The Wanderers’ is a
comedy drama set in New York in 1963. It is a story of love and friendship.
'The Wanderers' are a group of adolescent Italian boys, Boys who are all best
friends and would each lose their life for the next.
There were four things
they worried about, football, alcohol, girls and rival gangs. The rival gang
for 'The Wanderers' is 'The Baldies', a group of hairless thugs who take
pleasure in beating up the little guys.
The main characters in
the film are Ritchie, the 18 year old leader of 'The Wanderers', Joey,
Ritchie’s sidekick, Despie, Ritchie’s eager to please girlfriend, Turkey, the
group traitor, Terror, the leader of 'The Baldies', and Perry, the shy
beefcake. For me, Joey is the real stand out character.
We see him go from
boyhood to manhood as he finally stands up to his over bearing father, Emilio.
This film is like
'Grease' only with more swearing and violence. It has an underlying race theme
and shows that tensions, in the 60’s, were high between whites and blacks.
There are a lot of dramatic moments throughout the film as well as the
development of the love story between Ritchie and Despie, with an added twist
when Ritchie falls for the mysterious Nina.
The director does well
to pull off a film that, not only interests the viewers, but also, shows us
that ultimately, the human race is the most important race. The movie tries to
show that friendships should last a lifetime and that, in spite of moving in
different directions such as college and marriage, ‘The Wanderers’ will always
be ‘The Wanderers.’ The menu features Play movie, Scene Selection and a movie
trailer. There are no actual extras on this disc, which is probably due to the
fact the film was released in 1979.
This is a movie about
taking responsibility for your actions. With loveable characters, catchy music
and a good storyline, this movie will keep you interested the whole way
through. I love 60’s music and this film features a lot of it and a lot of
classic tunes. There are a few confusing moments, such as the inclusion of a
gang that is not really introduced, who don’t really have a purpose in the
storyline, but this is a minor detail that can be easily overcome. On the
whole, a movie that you should watch at least once.
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