Themes: Kids in Trouble, Sibling Relationships, Orphans
Main Cast: Matt Dillon, Jim Metzler, Meg Tilly, Bill McKinney, Frances Lee McCain
Release Year: 1982
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Tex represented the first film adaption of a novel by "teen angst" specialist S. E. Hinton. Matt Dillon stars as Tex McCormick, an Oklahoma farm boy who drifts into bad company and a dangerous lifestyle after his mother dies and his father deserts him. His older brother Mason (Jim Metzler) struggles to keep his sibling on the straight and narrow, but he too has a cross to bear: his crippling lack of self-worth. Surprisingly, the film was produced by the Disney company, which heretofore had painted a more upbeat portrait of teen-age life. Dillon would go on to appear in two more Hinton adaptations, while Tex supporting player Emilio Estevez would show up in an additional three. S.E. Hinton herself appears in the small role of Mrs. Barnes, a schoolteacher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Matt Dillon's considerable talents as a young actor did not go unnoticed by writer/director Tim Hunter, who was the first to give Dillon a complex, mature role as the title character in his screen adaptation of S.E. Hinton's Tex. There's more to the performance than the trademark Dillon impudence: he's allowed to reveal some of the worry and fear behind the character's macho, prankster posturing, and he never becomes maudlin or unconvincing. The film charts a few pivotal weeks in the lives of parentless brothers Tex and Mason (Jim Metzler), and Hunter does away with the sentiment common to Hinton's stories in favor of a gritty, sloppy look uncommon to most Disney productions. Tex would be one of many Hunter films chronicling disaffected teens, from his first produced script, 1979's cautionary tale Over the Edge, to 1987's haunting River's Edge, to many episodes of the popular 1990s television series, Beverly Hills, 90210. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Ben Johnson - Cole Collins; Emilio Estevez - Johnny Collins; Phil Brock - Lem Peters; Mark Arnott - Kelly; Sheryl Briedel - Lisa; Suzanne Costallos - Fortune Teller; Jeff Fleury - Roger; S.E. Hinton - Mrs. Barnes; Zeljko Ivanek - Hitchhiker; Ric Krause - Ride Operator; Pamela Ludwig - Connie; Marilyn Redfield - Ms. Carlson; Tom Virtue - Bob Collins; Charles Haas - Lee; Scott Smith; Jack Thibeau - Coach Jackson; Jill Clark - Marcie; Robin Winters - Girl on Bike
Credit
John Mansbridge - Art Director, Tim Hunter - Director, Howard E. Smith - Editor, Pino Donaggio - Composer (Music Score), Natalie Massara - Musical Direction/Supervision, Jack T. Collis - Production Designer, Louis Mann - Production Designer, Ric Waite - Cinematographer, Ron Miller - Producer, Tim Zinnemann - Producer, Bob Hathaway - Sound/Sound Designer, Tim Hunter - Screenwriter, S.E. Hinton - Book Author
A coming-of-age adventure about two brothers (Matt Dillon and Jim Metzler) struggling to make it on their own when their mother dies and their father leaves them in their Oklahoma home.
