The Screen: 'Rude Boy' - Stars Rock Band the Clash

New York Times July 25, 1980
By Janet Maslin

"Rude Boy," starring the Clash, is about as mixed-up as a movie can be, but the best parts are everything this British rock group's fans could hope for. The concert scenes capture the band, today's closest equivalent to the early Rolling Stones, in all its ragged glory. And the dramatic scenes, which amount in little more than transitional material, are mesmerizing as often as they're muddled.

There's a scene in which Joe Strummer, who sings with the band, is seen in his cluttered hotel room, carefully washing out a Red Brigade T-shirt in the bathroom sink, for example. This has the film's characteristic blend of scruffiness, intense concern with fashion and something strangely touching, something a little bit sad. Mr. Strummer, who has a whimsical screen presence and a remarkable set of snaggle teeth, is also heard discussing his political philosophy in a bar with Ray Gange, who plays the film's main character. Mr. Strummer's attitude, if this writer heard it right, is that all leftists are interchangeable, that the world divides into the masses and the lucky few. One of his surest goals is to become a person of privilege, he says.

"Rude Boy," which opens today at the Eighth Street Playhouse, purports to follow Ray as he pretty much goes nowhere. In a very rough-edged imitation of a British film of the 60's - kitchen sink with the drain backed up, you might say - it chronicles every ratty detail of his life. He works sporadically in a honky-tonk bookstore, selling pornographic magazines. He meets girls whose nonchalance borders the comatose. Then he gets a job as a roadie for the Clash. He may or may not have been previously acquainted with the band's members. The plot gets vague, and the dialogue unintelligible on points like this.

In any case, he tours with the band, and so does the camera. The Clash is seen offering fierce, dynamic performances of numbers like "I Fought the Law," "Rudie Can't Fail" and "I'm So Bored With the U.S.A." While the film's dramatic scenes are almost frozen, having something more like the feeling of carefully posed still photographs than of live action, the concert episodes are furiously alive. For anyone even marginally interested in the Clash's music, they're more than enough reason to see the movie.

About the only recurring motif in the Clash members' interaction with the downtrodden Ray is their tendency to heap abuse and physical violence on him for no apparent reason. One of them, after Ray compliments him, offers a torrent of insults. Another, practicing his boxing as Ray holds the punching bag, suddenly gets tired of mere exercise and starts slugging Ray for variety. "Rude Boy," which was directed by Jack Hazan and David Mingay, has its problems. But lack of personality certainly isn't one of them.

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The Clash in Rude Boy, directed and produced by Jack Hazan and David Mingay; screenplay by Mr. Mingay, Ray Gange and Mr. Hazan; music by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones; presented by Michael White; from the Atlantic Releasing Corporation At the Eighth Street Playhouse, 52 West Eighth Street. Running time: 120 minutes. This film is rated R.

With: Ray Gange, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Nicky [sic], Johnny Green, Barry Baker, Terry McQuade, Hicky Etienne, Liz, Lizard Brown, Caroline Coen, Jimmy Pursey, Colin Richards, Colin Bucksey, Lee Parker, Inch Gordon, Kenny Joseph and Sarah Hall.

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