So– we can’t really talk about The Outsiders without acknowledging who was the King of 80’s teen cinema.  Even with the borderline unibrow he sported back then, Matt Dillon was undeniably King of the clearasil screen.   Yeah– I’m glad for Matt that he later found his comic side in films like There’s Something About Mary, and Herbie: Fully Loaded.  But personally speaking, I would much rather remember him as Moody in My Body Guard, Dallas in The Outsiders or Rusty James in Rumblefish.  The bad-boy Dillon as we knew back then ended with Drugstore Cowboy (directed by Gus Van Zant in 1989), which finally won him the critical acclaim and recognition he long deserved.

 

Matt Dillon and Kristy McNichol were the hot couple back then– they even shared the same hair stylist.  His armpit was itchy that day.

 

One of Dillon’s greatest roles- Moody in My Bodyguard.  I remember seeing that movie and knowing exactly why Clifford was getting such a hard time– Hello dude, check your hair.  Total no-brainer.

 

I rest my case.

 

 

Matt Dillon with Mickey Rourke during the filming Rumblefish.  Now we finally know where Paul Weller got that hairdo from.