I rewatched it yesterday... it REALLY is a wonderful movie.

It touches on the changing times (very appropriate that Dylan is dinging "The Times They Are a Changin'" near the end) of the 60's. The Ducky Boys represent the chaos and anarchy seen in the end of the decade; the coming together of the neighborhood gangs to fight them (the Ducky Boys) represented the political alliances we saw born then to fight a common enemy; the scene in which Joey's father (accidentally) knocks Joey out in the fight scene represented the "passion" that some reached in the decade that pitted father against son. Ken Wahl's last scene in which he follows Karen Allen to the coffehouse (in which Dylan was singing) and then walked back to his party was telling as he realized his "fate" and he accepted his responsibilities.

A wonderful movie!!