A Great,Underrated Crime Drama/Film Noir/Thriller from Walter Hill with a Excellent performance from Mickey Rourke.
Johnny Handsome is a great,underrated Crime Drama,Film Noir and Thriller that's filled with great direction,wonderful performances,film score and is one of Walter Hill and Mickey Rourke's best films and is very overlooked.Based on the novel The Three Worlds Of Johnny Handsome by John Godey and set in New Orleans Johnny Handsome tells the story of John Sedley(Mickey Rourke)a man nicknamed Johnny Handsome because of the physical deformities on his face who sets up a robbery with two lowlifes named Sunny(Ellen Barkin)and Rafe(Lance Henriksen)to help his friend,Mikey(Scott Wilson)an older brother-type. When the robbery goes wrong,Mikey is killed by Rafe and Johnny is set-up by Sunny and Rafe to take the fall and gets put in prison and is stabbed while he's inside prison. While Johnny is in the hospital and in a coma,a sympathetic surgeon named Dr. Steven Fisher(Forrest Whitaker)offers Johnny a reconstructive surgery on his face and a new life. Although Johnny has a new face and name,Johnny still wants to get revenge on Sunny and Rafe at all costs new face or not.
Johnny Handsome is an excellent film that is true to the genre and spirit of Film Noir,it's dark,gritty and ugly and the film works so well not just as Crime Drama,Film Noir or Thriller,but also as a great character study. Walter Hill definitely knows the Film Noir genre having done another Film Noir in 1978 with his classic The Driver. What I love about the film is that Hill creates a world of a dark world not at all related to the 80s but to the 40s,where in this film and in the works of Dashell Hammett and Raymond Chandler some of the characters are good,bad or something else in between. Where in the 80s most films were bright and colorful,Johnny Handsome is grim and gritty and doesn't fit in with the colorful world of the 80s where all characters are good and everything is going to turnout all right and I think that is one of the reasons that Johnny Handsome is underrated because right from the opening credits it's established that Johnny Handsome is not a lighthearted film but a film that is going to be bleak and dark until the very end. Johnny Handsome is a film that could have easily been made in the 40s. What I also love about Johnny Handsome is that it's a great character study. The main character John Sedley is a tragic character in many respects,because even though John has had surgery on his face and has a new name,John still feels like he has his old face and has the same emotions he had before. John also has to go out into the world with his new face try to deal with his past and present. The past where Dr.Fisher gives John a new face and a new life and feels that he will turnout o.k or having to deal with local cop L.T A.Z.Drones(Morgan Freeman)who despite seeing Johnny's new face doesn't believe that John will never,ever change and will always be a criminal. Another thing from his past is Sunny and Rafe and how John still carries the emotional scars from dealing with those two and trying to get revenge. In the present,Johnny doesn't want his new girlfriend and lover Donna(Elizabeth McGovern)to know about his past or who he used to be,but unfortunately for Johnny his past and present meet up. I think that one of the themes of the film is that you can change how a person looks on the outside but,you can't change how they feel on the inside Some probably would see Hill's films as just Action films,but the characters in his films have depth and history and it's one of the many reasons Walter Hill is one of my favorite film directors. Johnny Handsome is not only a great Film Noir but also a great character study of John Sedley. Although not as Action-packed as many of Hill's films,Johnny Handsome has a few well-executed Action scenes that will get the viewer riled up which are violent and fast and at times brutal which greatly matches the film's dark and gritty tone. With the exception of a couple films Hill has never been known for making long films and if their is a flaw with this film is that it's not long enough in my opinion and should have been 15-20 minutes longer and had more scenes with the characters because I wanted to see much more,but that doesn't stop the film from being great and memorable. The ending of this film is brilliant,powerful,bleak and sad but is true to the dark and grim spirit of Film Noir. An excellent and unforgettable conclusion.
The whole cast does a great job. Mickey Rourke is excellent and at his best as John Sedley,bringing depth,toughness and sadness to the role. One of Rourke's most underrated performances. Ellen Barkin is fantastic,over the top and sexy as Sunny a sexy,but slimy woman. Elizabeth McGovern does a great job as Donna,Johnny's new girlfriend. Lance Henriksen is menacing and believable as Rafe,Sunny's partner in crime. Morgan Freeman is great as always as cop L.T. A.Z.Drones a cop who's always on Johnny's case. Forest Whitaker is wonderful as Dr.Fisher a sympathetic doctor who tries to help and understand Johnny. Scott Glenn does a fine job in his small role as Mikey,John's friend and older brother-type.
Walter Hill's direction is excellent,bringing a dark,gritty,somber look to the film and also does well with the Action scenes. Great direction,Hill.
Ry Cooder's score is amazing and it gives the film a hard edge with it's somber,blues-like sound and truly adds to the film.
In final word,if you love Walter Hill,Mickey Rourke,Crime Dramas,Film Noir or Thrillers,I Highly suggest you see out Johnny Handsome an underrated and overlooked film that will stay with you after you watch it and is Walter Hill and Mickey Rourke at their best. Highly Recommended. 10/10.
score 10/10
jcbutthead86 1 December 2012
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2713487/35079
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