James Poniewozik
Sick of movie-star biopics? Then there’s little to change your mind in this one, written by Israel Horovitz and directed by Mark Rydell: celeb struggles to overcome childhood demons, audience struggles to find the remote. It’s worth seeing, though, because James Franco uncannily channels the sulky, sexy, short-lived heartthrob. Franco recalls not just Dean’s recklessness and (cue E! True Hollywood Story music) his icy relationship with his father (Michael Moriarty), but also the acting craft of a phenom who lived hard and left a good-looking memory.
–By James Poniewozik
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Introducing the 2024 TIME100 Next
- The Reinvention of J.D. Vance
- How to Survive Election Season Without Losing Your Mind
- Welcome to the Golden Age of Scams
- Did the Pandemic Break Our Brains?
- The Many Lives of Jack Antonoff
- 33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre
- Why Gut Health Issues Are More Common in Women
Contact us at letters@time.com