Johnny Handsome (1989)

Many reviews to date regarding the 1989 film 'Johnny Handsome' claimed that the Walter Hill crime thriller was a slow moving, poorly aimed feature. Since I gave the film a chance I came to the conclusion that those critics probably watched the opening half hour before skipping off to the salon with their BFF's to get their back, crack and sack waxed and flap wrists over watercress soup and Madonna music videos. I'm guessing that was late '80's Hollywood anyway, I don't really want to know the specifics...

I found it thoroughly enjoyable, 'Johnny Handsome', that was; very influential (inter-textual references made by great modern directors such as John Woo with the likes of 'Hard Target' have nodded in Handsome's direction) and in regard to issues still proving highly debatable today contained within the film, it remains far ahead of its time.

'Johnny Handsome' is the story of the downtrodden and tragic John Sedley, played with humility and stark realism by Mickey Rourke. Left to fend for himself since the age of 13 after his prostitute mother died and having been born with a great genetic deformity that has rendered his face as badly deformed as that of the Elephant Man, he is a joke, he's unwanted, unloved and therefore has turned to crime to survive. He cannot talk properly due to the absence of a formal education and also as a result of a hare lip.

Sedley is asked by his closest friend Mikey Chalmette, played humbly and earnestly by Scott Wilson, out of desperation to help him set up a heist in their hometown of New Orleans.

Double-crossed and left for dead, Sedley is the victim of an attempted murder in prison, which sets him on the road to redemption when a doctor offers a trial of radical reconstructive surgery to cure his genetic deformity as he enters the witness protection program. But smiling darkly on the edge of every scene is Police Lieutenant A.Z. Drones, played softly yet sinisterly by a fresh-faced Morgan Freeman, a man who continually claims that the seemingly fragile and long-damaged Sedley is a born criminal who will offend again, regardless of the efforts of his redeemers to help him become a part of the civilised world.

So when Sedley undergoes his miraculous transformation, is given a voice to speak with and learns to exercise his past demons, he takes an honest job. But with Drones on his back like the ghost of his conscience, it isn't long before he is contemplating using his new identity to draw the double-crossing heist partners who put him in prison and now believe he is dead into a revenge plot, playing them off against each other in the process.

Johnny Handsome boasts one of the finest lists of actors dedicated to what is essentially a small scale but very well written crime drama. It plays off a single strand narrative but allows all its key characters to play openly and occasionally run riot as they tend to in all Walter Hill films. Everyone has a story and if not, they come with clever pieces of worldly wisdom seldom found in movie characters. Morgan Freeman for one being world renowned for playing such characters.

But also with a supporting cast including Forest Whittaker, Lance Henriksen and Ellen Barkin, you're treated to the finest drama you could expect from an '80's crime thriller, that particular decade not exactly known for its drama over absent minded action films and comedies.

New Orleans itself plays a fine character in the film, breathing colou

Fmovies: The ratings at IMDb are generally pretty accurate; if a film is rated 8, it's good, if it's rated 6 it's not so good, and if it's rated 4, you shouldn't waste your time. This is the first time I can remember being really baffled by a rating - this film really deserves to be rated much higher.

The plot is simple enough. Johnny Handsome has been given an ironic name because of his hideous disfigurement which makes him repulsive to everyone he meets. In the circumstances, he doesn't have much choice but to turn to crime, and when he's betrayed by his accomplices, he ends up in jail. There he meets a brilliant surgeon, who fixes his face and makes him look like - well, like Mickey Rourke. Released on parole he finds a job and a girlfriend, but he can't escape his grim past and his need for vengeance.

Now I'm not saying the film is perfect by any means. There are plot holes a-go-go, and the whole thing falls apart a bit in the last twenty minutes or so - the ending is especially disappointing. But come on, it's better than 5.6, with good performances from Rourke, Forest Whitaker and a turn of twinkly eyed cynicism from Morgan Freeman, who effortlessly steals every scene he appears in. And let's not forget a deliciously over the top effort from Ellen Barkin as the baddest girl ever to walk the earth.

It isn't Shakespeare, but it's directed in typically robust style by Walter Hill, and to my surprise I found myself caring about Johnny and hoping it all worked out for him. I won't say whether it does or not, because it's worth seeing this one to find out for yourself. Just get a big bucket of popcorn and don't think too much, and you'll have a great time.

Mickey Rourke has to be one of the greatest, yet most under-rated,

American actors alive today. This film proves it. He plays this

character with layers and a depth few could accomplish or would

even dare. Unfortunately, most people regard his personal life

(and abrasive personality itself) with such disdain that they refuse

to fairly judge his professional accomplishments.

Rourke plays a grotesquely facially disfigured man who's life of

ridicule, non-existent home-life, and resultant self-guilt have led

him to a life of crime. Nothing original there, I'll admit. But one

must watch Rourke's subtle portrayal to see not a man of rage, as

most actors would give, and be expected of, from the audience, but

a man quietly locked into his world of pain. The way he holds his

cigarette from the top, so as to cover part of his face; the downward

tilt of his head, eyes averted from anyone's gaze; or the curt, quiet

speaking so as not to draw too much attention. The example of

speech is in itself remarkable. Not only does Rourke affect a

severe speech impediment as the disfigured Johnny Handsome,

but he then takes on a new one as a man who is now capable of

proper diction, but who is completely unused to being able to

speak properly. And he is constant in his portrayal throughout.

The story is simple but good, driven with excellent visual editing,

and a wonderful sound track (provided by Ry Cooder), that really

sets the pacing. The cast is largely wonderful, as well, with quite a

few recognizable "stars". Forest Whitaker as the sympathetic but

driven and demanding doctor, Lance Henrikson and Ellen Barkin

in amazing performances as two completely greedy "scum-bags",

and Morgan Freeman, in a real role reversal, as a rotten, taunting

parole officer. Probably the only weak link in the cast is Elizabeth

McGovern, who's attempted Louisiana accent never holds up and

over-all acting just suffices.

This film remains a favorite of mine that I watch every now and

again, always enjoying it both for the excitingly building tension of

the story, and the great performances (and performers) littered

throughout the film. If you like this film, I also suggest "The

Elephant Man", by David Lynch (for the life-with-disfigurement

aspects), or "The Warriors", by Walter Hill, as a great, early

example of this same director's work.

8/10 Mickey Rourke at his best!

Johnny Handsome fmovies. Well renowned action director Walter Hill tackles a more moody, character driven crime drama in the shape of "Johnny Handsome" and it would have to be one of his under-the-radar productions. The story follows that of a deformed criminal John who stages a heist, however there's a double-cross which sees his best friend killed and him going to prison. There he is asked to take part in a rehabilitation program, where they clear him of his deformity while also getting him parole. Hoping now that he can start a new life, however John is still burning inside for vengeance.

Presenting an ideal cast, Hill really does cast a spell over his audience with solid (even if it does feel a bit underdone) story-telling backed up by credibly good performances from leading man Mickey Rourke (within the peak of his career) and equally so support by Morgan Freeman, Ellen Barkin Lance Henrikson, Elizabeth McGovern and Forest Whitaker. Everybody chips in, adding their own stamp to proceedings and establishing gripping character rapports or confrontations (e.g. between Freeman's detective and Whitaker's doctor).

Hill's cruise-like direction is crisp and tidy, engineering some intense passages and some well-oiled, edgy action set-pieces, although they are low-key (still violent) but this really does belong to its cast and the interestingly, smart story (that was adapted off John Godey's novel "The Three Worlds of Johnny Handsome"). The ambitious plot does have a lot going on and it might not all come together, but how it does play out stays constantly interesting and rather unpleasant in its details. Rourke's character Johnny is given a chance to start over and go straight, from this physical change brings much needed confidence but the hunger inside for revenge can't simply be cured or forgotten. Someone he cared for, who saw beyond his deformity deserved payback. Johnny would deliver it. So he carefully plans out the revenge, wanting to tease before actually ending it and things get even more suspenseful when the situation starts to go off the rails. Lance Henrikson and Ellen Barkin really do nail down their explosively sly parts of the two crooks who betrayed Johnny. The ever-reliable, Hill regular Ry Cooder adds a smoking touch to the music score.

One of those films I didn't know all that much of, but came away pleasantly surprised.

This is an engrosssing,pulse pounding thriller. It has depth not often found in many Hollywood movies in its characters. Even though it was made in 1989, this is classic Film-Noir. It has that dark, edgy, disturbing feel that is typically found only in Detective Movies of the 30s and 40s. It reaches down into the dark recesses of the soul and displays them for the audience. The way it plays out is much more in the style of Old Movies. It displays the powerful extremes that come in the nature of Good and Evil. This movie isn't just a simple thrill-ride of a movie, it is powerful, gripping entertainment.

Johnny Handsome is directed by Walter Hill and adapted to screenplay by Ken Friedman from the novel "The Three Worlds of Johnny Handsome" written by John Godey. It stars Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern, Lance Henriksen, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman and Scott Wilson. Music is by Ry Cooder and cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti.

John Sedley (Rourke), AKA: Johnny Handsome, has a severely disfigured face, when he and his only real friend are double-crossed by two accomplices during a robbery, Johnny is sent to prison and his life reaches a new low. However, hope springs in the form of Dr. Steven Fisher (Whitaker), a pioneering plastic surgeon who offers to give Johnny surgery that would give him a normal face as he attempts to integrate back into society. With a new face making him unrecognisable, there is scope to enact revenge on the two people who killed his best friend and had him put in prison...

Walter Hill knows his film noir, anyone who has seen The Driver knows this. Here for Johnny Handsome, Hill takes a lot of the fantastical elements of noir and dresses it up admirably as a violent revenge thriller. A box office flop and something of a kicking post for big hitting critics of the late 1980s, it's a film that now can be seen as being very much in tune with its influences.

The charges of it being too bonkers, too violent and too much of a "B" movie homage just don't add up, because what is on offer is good solid meaty neo-noir cinema. A protagonist with an affliction, medical shenanigans, hyper femme fatale, over the top villain and a stoic and sarcastic gumshoe type copper. All of which operate in a sweaty and luridly coloured New Orleans. Add in Hill's eye for aggressive action sequences and it's neo a go-go.

Hill gets strong performances from his cast, ensuring emotional bonds are not over egged and a clamour for sympathy and understanding kept to a bearable level by the actors playing the "good" guys "n" dolls. While giving Henriksen and Barkin licence to sizzle with sinister glee is astute and perfectly in tune with the material on the page. Leonetti's photography has the requisite pulpy noirishness to it, and the familiar twangs of Ry Cooder are never a bad thing in a Walter Hill movie.

It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but those complaining about missed opportunities regarding rehabilitation - or that the liberal doctor turns out to be clinically wrong in his reform beliefs - really are missing the point or unaware of the world where something like Johnny Handsome lives. From the kinetic misery at film's start, to the "ever so in tune with film noir" finale, Johnny Handsome is well worth a look by anyone interested in noir's updated version. 7/10