Great cast - Mickey Rourke ("Diner") , Morgan Freeman ("The Shawshank redemption") , Lance Henriksen ("Aliens") , Forest Whitaker ("Good morning Vietnam") , Ellen Burstyn ("Requiem for a dream") and Elizabeth McGovern ("Once upon a time in America") . Nice director - Walter Hill ("48 hours" , "Red Heat" ) . Together in one movie . It should have been a hit , right ? Unfortunately , you can't do much when the screenplay is flat.
"Johnny handsome" has got a promising starting point. A deformed gangster gets a new face. He now must make a choice : a) search for people who betrayed him or b) try to live a normal life. I don't think the writer knew what to do next. Important characters from the first half of the movie (doctor,noon) should return in the second half.It would make the movie much more dramatic , if Johnny would feel shame for letting down people who helped him. The story needs more drama , more complex characters. I was able to predict movie to the very end. In the last twenty minutes the characters start to act illogically , which makes me think that the writer didn't know how to end this movie. Though the story idea is somewhat interesting, I don't think it was handled well by script-writer Ken Friedman.
Walter Hill certainly creates a mood of noir movies here. The actors do good job , but also they feel wasted here. With a far better script they could give us awesome performances. Rourke and Burstyn are IMHO the best in the movie.
It should be a heart-gripping entertainment . "Johnny handsome" has style , but not a heart.Too bad . I ended up unsatisfactory; not really frustrated, but in a longing-for-more position.
I give it a 4/10.
"Johnny handsome" has got a promising starting point. A deformed gangster gets a new face. He now must make a choice : a) search for people who betrayed him or b) try to live a normal life. I don't think the writer knew what to do next. Important characters from the first half of the movie (doctor,noon) should return in the second half.It would make the movie much more dramatic , if Johnny would feel shame for letting down people who helped him. The story needs more drama , more complex characters. I was able to predict movie to the very end. In the last twenty minutes the characters start to act illogically , which makes me think that the writer didn't know how to end this movie. Though the story idea is somewhat interesting, I don't think it was handled well by script-writer Ken Friedman.
Walter Hill certainly creates a mood of noir movies here. The actors do good job , but also they feel wasted here. With a far better script they could give us awesome performances. Rourke and Burstyn are IMHO the best in the movie.
It should be a heart-gripping entertainment . "Johnny handsome" has style , but not a heart.Too bad . I ended up unsatisfactory; not really frustrated, but in a longing-for-more position.
I give it a 4/10.