Scowls and cigarettes: Life reviewed

Life (Anton Corbijn, 2015)

James Dean, the poster boy for the bored and disillusioned American youth of the 1950s, was a captivating figure in Hollywood. In fact, there have been surprisingly few feature films about this iconic actor and his enduring image, bar James Franco’s take in 2001. Who better to bring Dean back to life on screen than Dutch photographer and director Anton Corbijn, whose debut on troubled soul Ian Curtis proved his worth at making biographical films.

In Life, the cool and conflicted James Dean is played, with a great deal of mumbling, by Dane DeHaan. Robert Pattinson is Dennis Stock, a young New York photographer building his portfolio for LIFE magazine and wanting to be taken seriously as an artist. After meeting Dean at a party in L.A., Stock sees something in him of the rebel and screen magnet he will become, and immediately wants to work with him. Lots of scowling behind tortoise-shell glasses and fistfuls of cigarette smoke later, a strained working relationship blossoms.

Set before Dean’s breakthrough as a movie star, Corbijn gives some attention to the perennial struggle of art versus business. Head of Warner Bros, Jack Warner, portrayed by the ever-brilliant Ben Kingsley, wants the young man to play by his corporation’s rules. Newly contracted James Dean, predictably, will do anything but.

His relentless indecision and general sulkiness means that the film drags in places. Not through lack of trying, DeHaan doesn’t quite command our full attention on screen. More of a character study than a thrilling narrative, it’s interesting how the photographer Dennis Stock, and his own struggles, rather than Dean’s, take centre stage. In fact, it’s the man behind the camera, his bumpy life and his responsibilities as a father, which makes up the core of the film.

It has to be said that there’s a glossy film quality about Life, perhaps shaped by Corbijn’s early profession as a director of music videos. It’s a shame as this visual intention prevents a fully fleshed and layered understanding of the main characters, characters who are ultimately not that different from one another. There’s potential here but it lacks in substance.