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The Wanderers

1979, Movie, R, 113 mins

The Wanderers: Review

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The best of the gang films to be released in 1979 (the list includes THE WARRIORS, WALK PROUD, and BOULEVARD NIGHTS), THE WANDERERS is a strangely compelling film directed with flair by Philip Kaufman (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE RIGHT STUFF). While basically just a string of vignettes about a gang of Italian-American teenagers living in the Bronx circa 1963, the film has an air of authenticity, as if it episodes were based on adolescent recollections. The performances in the film are uniformly strong, with Wahl, the protagonist, showing a great screen promise he has never fulfilled (FORT APACHE, THE BRONX; and THE SOLDIER being dismal wastes of his talent). Little Linda Manz (DAYS OF HEAVEN and OUT OF THE BLUE) nearly steals the film as a pint-sized tough gal who is the girlfriend of Van Lidth, the giant leader of a rival street gang known as "The Fordham Baldies." Kaufman infuses the film with a wistful sadness for an era about to end with the assassination of JFK. Many incidents will stick with the viewer, including the very funny sequence where all the members of the Fordham Baldies get drunk and join the Marines, and the haunting, almost surrealistic battle with the mysterious and violent rival gang known as "The Ducky Boys." All in all a fascinating film with an outstanding musical score consisting of jukebox hits from the period. leave a comment
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