Unlike most everyone else who commented here, i saw this film because I am a major (and a bit obsessed) James Dean fan, not a James Franco fan. I was expecting a brilliant, insightful film about the person behind the persona of james dean. instead, i saw a chaotic film that hinted instead of revealed, an actor who imitated instead of captured. I thought James Frnaco might have passing resemblence (above the mouth) to Dean. But instead of trying to recreate the energy, the essence that Dean projects, he merely imitates and mimics his movements. Many turningpoints and poignant moments of Dean's life are entirely skipped (his watching Pier Angeli's wedding, the night he found out she was pregnant, his friendship with natalie wood and liz taylor) and many things are slightly hinted at instead of cleared up. for example, his encounter with roger bracketts (sp?) is probably a minute long, and confuses the viewer, never revealing that in fact, james dean was bisexual. his relationship with christine white also never seems to have a reason for ending, and seems much more prominent than the one with Pier, in the film. I thought this film had no focus; it was bad not particularly due to bad acting, or directing, but the lack of purpose. Is it supposed to be a study of his legend? Or an insightful look into his personal life?Was it supposed to explain the things he did, or merely let us know what they were?<br /><br />What really p***ed me off was that this could have been a brilliant insightful study of the personal life and/or the legend of a pop culture star. Too bad.<br /><br />Grade: C