Johnny Handsome [DVD]

A very good movie. Arrived quickly and safely.

Mint condition

This one could be for Mickey fans only. I hope not though. Unlike most genre films, this one does have a soul. And not as corroded as one would think. But corroded nonetheless and in the end, hopeless. What makes it work though is that we DID hope. All along, and credit Rourke for so, so, many things. One, he kept surprising us by doing everything he could to push us, and those he cares about away. And does it roughly. And two, like the girl, we keep coming back and wanting him to choose the decency that he can't hide. It's his most underrated perfomance and it's Hill's best work. And Ry Cooder is on par with Southern Comfort here as well.

Been wanting to watch this movie for 30 years. Finally it is here. One of the best

The plot is good but not enough running time to get familiar with the main character. Reminds me of a dysfunctional Beauty and the Beast if there was only 1 character.

The worst part of this movie is Elizabeth McGovern. Her "southern accent" is laughable. The story follows Mickey Rourk and his criminal career after receiving life-altering surgery to reverse his facial birth defects that made him look like a monster. Ellen Barkin was the most duplicitous, violent woman who I have ever seen in a movie. The story involves a gang of misfits pulling off a multi-million dollar robbery. I saw this movie in the theatre when it first came out. I have no idea why I thought I needed to own it. Mickey Rourk was good.

I remember seeing this film during it's initial run at a decrepit old movie palace in the Bronx with probably a handful of people in the audience. It's a shame because this unheralded gem deserved better. Before Quentin Tarantino there was Walter Hill as a purveyor of adrenaline charged pulp entertainment. Everything here clicks on all cylinders. Hill masterfully directs this intricately plotted story of a disfigured man given a second chance in life torn between going straight and settling down with a nice girl or returning to crime and getting revenge on his accomplices who set him up. New Orleans is a perfect locale with it's ominous steamy seediness. Mickey Rourke gives probably the performance of his career in capturing the poignance and ultimately the tragedy that is John Sedley. Not to be overlooked is Morgan Freeman as the cop who is tailing Johnny. Our first impulse is to loathe this character but, alas, it is he who truly knows Johnny. Lance Henriksen and Ellen Barkin are positively reptilian in their evil. Also effective are Forest Whitaker and Elizabeth McGovern as Johnny's surgeon and girlfriend who are hopeful that he can reform.

This film noir manages to fall short of greatness and yet it should not be overlooked given the performances of most of the major players. Mickey Rourke uses his chiseled features to give us a preview of his stellar 'misunderstood bad-ass' role in Sin City, Forest Whitaker does his hand-wringing missionary doctor thing to perfection, and the great Morgan Freeman shows us a great tightrope act as the super-cynical cop who balances nicely between opportunistic sleaze and tender-hearted simpatico. Ellen Barkin and Lance Hendrickson leave no doubt about their sleaze factor and do so very convincingly. And of course Elizabeth McGovern is perfectly cast as the "discarded sweetheart", though her bayou accent is just a little over the top. Taken on its own Johnny Handsome is maybe nothing more than an okay black movie but the performances of these six taken in the context of their filmographies makes this a 'must have' in the library of any serious film aficionado.