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: In the opening scene, Dean is seen wearing a 1990s style racing helmet.

This Rebel Has Much Cause For Complaint

Try as he may Casper Van Dien could not overcome the bad casting as James Dean in James Dean: Race With Destiny. I'm not sure anyone could have played the part and not be criticized as Dean has become such an iconic figure for America's young.

He does his best, but the guy who played such an All American hero as John Rico in Starship Troopers and made a terrifically hunky screen Tarzan is just too white bread for the part of James Dean. Van Dien just does not suggest a rebel persona that would be so essential to playing Dean. Maybe the late River Phoenix or Leonardo DiCaprio might have done justice to the role, but they themselves have some rather fixed images.

The story line is about roughly the last year of Dean's 24 year time on earth. We meet him first making East of Eden and driving folks like Jack Warner and director Elia Kazan crazy with his driving. When not successful in wooing Pier Angeli, Dean courts other women like an up and coming Ursula Andress and spends his time racing his motorcycle or his automobile.

If we're to believe this, all might have gone well for Dean and Angeli had they been able to settle down and marry. Sad to say though Dean could not overcome the handicap of not being Italian. Pier Angeli and her sister Marisa Pavan were dominated by their mother in the same way as Jean Harlow was, as Natalie Wood was. Diane Ladd plays the domineering mother and she's got a husband picked out for Pier in the person of singer Vic Damone. Jimmy's willing to become the best Catholic ever, but can't change his ancestry.

Of course one big flaw in this film is that it completely ignores James Dean's other sexual side. It's been reported in any number of places that Dean had a gay side to him. That might have been more or problem than not being Italian.

Casper Van Dien's wife at the time, Carrie Mitchum plays Pier Angeli. She is the granddaughter of that other screen icon Robert Mitchum and the Van Diens got Mitchum to play a couple of scenes as director George Stevens of Giant. In a few months Mitchum would be no longer with us and it's horrifying to see the ravages of lung cancer in him.

Though I think Casper Van Dien was miscast as James Dean, I'm not sure even the alternatives I mentioned could have stood up to the criticism leveled at this film. James Dean still looms large in our collective conscious, maybe too large.