JOSHUA TREE, 1951: A PORTRAIT OF JAMES DEAN (Matthew Mishory, U.S.). 93 minutes. May 26, 10 pm.
INSIDE OUT TORONTO LGBT FILM FESTIVAL Tonight (Thursday, May 17) to May 27 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. $8-$13, galas $17-$28, some discounts $6-$8. 416-599-TIFF. insideout.ca. See Indie & Rep Film. Rating: NN
Matthew Mishory’s moody, self-consciously arty movie imagines the life of iconic actor James Dean right before he caught his break. He’s in L.A. taking the occasional acting class, hanging out at the pool of a sleazy Hollywood type and being mooned over by his roommate. Oh, and when he’s not smoking and reading Hemingway, Saint-Exupéry and Rimbaud, he’s having sex with anything that moves.
This might be fun if there were any life onscreen, but the dialogue is banal, the performances wooden and the structure so flimsy, the movie evaporates as you’re watching it.
The mostly black-and-white cinematography looks decent, however, and James Preston, a former Abercrombie & Fitch model, has the Dean shrug and smoulder down pat without suggesting any of the man’s mystery or talent.
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