Johnny Handsome (1989)

Title: Johnny Handsome (1989)

Director: Walter Hill

Cast: Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern, Morgan Freeman, Forest Whitaker, Lance Henriksen  

Review:

I did an article a while back called 16 of the Top ‘Revengiest’Revenge Movies; in it I included these films where something awful happens to the main character, but then things turn around and eventually the main character gets his or her revenge, usually in pretty gruesome ways. I didn’t include the film I’ll be reviewing today because I had not seen it in such a long time. When I first saw Johnny Handsome I must’ve been about 13; all I remembered about Johnny Handsome was its basic premise and the fact that I liked the story a lot. There’s something gratifying about revenge tales, they always start out with something awful happening to the good guy of the film, then in the end whamo! That sweet, sweet revenge. The bad guys get what they deserved and the good guy gets his revenge. Though in this sense, Walter Hill’s Johnny Handsome is a bit different than most revenge films, Johnny isn’t your typical good guy, he’s actually a crook.

In Johnny Handsome we meet John Sedley, moments before he pulls off a diamond heist. John is not just any crook though, he is a mastermind in pulling off robberies. Also, his face is severely disfigured due to an anomaly in his genes. His deformity doesn’t stop him from doing what he has to do. Johnny is pulling off this diamond heist with the help of two individuals. One is a tomboyish lady called Sunny Boyd (Ellen Barkin) and the other a low life called Rafe Garrett (Lance Henriksen).  The three stick up the diamond store, and as we might expect in this kind of movie, things get ugly. The cops are called upon and at the last minute Rafe and Sunny decide to double cross Johnny and shoot him and the owner of the store, their idea is to keep the loot to themselves. Rafe and Sunny leave John for dead, unfortunately for them, John doesn’t die. Instead, he is rescued by the police and taken to a hospital where he is given the opportunity to jumpstart his life. You see, the doctors want to perform a surgery on him that could give him a normal face again. Will he take this opportunity to begin again? Or will he go back to his old ways?

It occurred to me that Johnny Handsome plays out a lot like a ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ story where the main character has a duality about him. He has his good natured/kind side, and he’s got his evil side, which he is at battle with. Johnny used to be a crook, because his looks led him to become an outcast, ridiculed and made fun of all his life. But what happens when he gets his face back and he no longer looks like a monster?  What kind of battle will be waged with the demons inside of him? This is what is at the center of this story. Johnny is even given a chance to fall in love with a beautiful woman, and lead a normal life, unfortunately, his former life calls him. Revenge calls him. Should he heed its call?

This is a Walter Hill film, so it’s not just any director we’re talking about here. This is the guy behind such action packed 80’s classics as 48 Hours (1982), Extreme Prejudice (1987) and Red Heat (1988). Hill’s a director whose films are very male oriented, he makes films for guys to holler and cheer at, they are about tough dudes, shoot outs, guns and explosions; tough dudes and sexy ladies. This time around things are a bit different though; not that Johnny Handsome doesn’t have its fare share of action and shoot outs, but the story is told in a more film noir style. It’s darker, grittier, more character driven. The film starts with a shootout and ends with a shootout, the middle of the film is the whole process of Johnny going from looking like a monster, to looking like Mickey Rourke before he turned to boxing. Funny how in real life, Rourke know looks like Johnny before the operation, oh the irony of life!

Hill invests a good amount of time getting you to know Johnny, getting you to feel for him. Rourke does a good job here, he plays the tormented soul, you feel like he’s the Frankenstein monster or something; a misunderstood creature who’s just looking for some love. At first, when we first meet Johnny he looks like a deformed monster, similar to the character that Eric Stoltz played in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Mask (1985), someone deformed because of genetic defects.  The character of Johnny also reminded me of Marv, another beat up character that Rourke played in Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City (2005). During the first half of the film, Rourke plays his character through heavy amounts of makeup. But half way through the film, after the operation, he transforms, and then we get the real Mickey Rourke, the mind boggles at how much Rourke has changed through the years! The rest of the film is populated by an excellent cast of supporting characters. Ellen Barkin has always been great at playing these rough, tom boyish ladies, on this show she plays a woman with no moral values whatsoever, she hangs out in bars, being a whore, stealing, killing and double crossing. She hangs out with low lives like Henriksen’s Rafe Garrett. Henriksen has always been great at playing villains, here he plays the main baddy, not much of a stretch acting wise, but he gets the job done. Rounding things up are Morgan Freeman as a cop who knows Johnny’s true nature, and Forest Whitaker as the doctor who operates on Johnny. Whitaker plays the guy who wants to give Johnny that second chance to improve himself, the guy with hopes that we can all change.

Johnny Handsome is a very underrated Walter Hill film. The film didn’t hit it big in theaters, in fact, it was a downright flop. It cost 20 million to make but only raked in 7.2 at the box office. I guess the film really didn’t connect with audiences for some reason. A pity because the film is a good revenge tale, and it has an excellent cast, this is the kind of film that makes you wonder why exactly did it slip through the cracks? Maybe it was due to the fact that it had some hefty competition at the box office. Upon it’s release it went up against Ridley Scott’s Black Rain (1989), which by the way was the #1 film that week, and it also went up against Sea of Love (1989) which starred Al Pacino. Also a bunch of successful family comedies like Uncle Buck (1989) and Parenthood (1989), so I guess a dark, brooding film about a deformed dude wasn’t at the top of anybodies list that weekend. But whatever, those that know, know; and on my book, this is a solid revenge tale with good performances and a dark, grimy look. If you’re ever in the mood for something like that, then this is the film for you.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

Title: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8^th Dimension (1984)

Director: W.D. Richter

Cast: Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, Christopher Lloyd, Lewis Smith, Robert Ito, Clancy Brown, Vincent Schiavelli

Review:

Sometimes, a films premise can be so outlandish and weird, so unpredictable, that movie studios just don’t know how to sell it to the masses. As a result, these “weird films” usually die a quick death at the box office. An example is John Carpenter’s Big Trouble In Little China (1986) which 20^th Century Fox simply didn’t know what to do with. How the hell do you sell a movie about a truck driver who ends up fighting Chinese ghosts in an underground Chinese temple? Exactly! So Big Trouble in Little China went the way of the dinosaur and disappeared from theaters. These films aren’t necessarily bad films, sometimes they are just not what audiences are accustomed to, they can’t be explained in a simple way to the masses. And trust me, this is what studios prefer: films that can be explained in a sentence, a caption, a tagline. For Hollywood, when it comes to selling a film, simplicity is of the essence. If your movie is too complicated a sell, it will either get a limited release, or go straight to dvd, either way, your film isn’t going to get much exposure. Often time, the films tagline will let you know that you’re in for a weird movie, for example the tagline for Big Trouble in Little China was “A Mystical, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Kung Fu, Monster, Ghost Story!” The tagline for The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8^th Dimension was “Expect the Unexpected. He does.” which I have to admit is pretty accurate description of the film, and it’s exactly what makes it so damn watchable. It is extremely unpredictable.

Buckaroo Banzai is a fascinating character in my book. He is that kind of character that is a genius and therefore knows how to do practically everything, which became a funny gag to me. Let’s see Buckaroo Banzai is an excellent brain surgeon, lead singer and lead guitar player of a rock and roll band called ‘Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers', in which he also plays the trumpet! Buckaroo is also a scientist who experiments with interdimensional travel, and ends up being the first human being to travel  through solid matter! If you can believe it, he is also a Samurai. He part times as a super hero, and is also one of the founding fathers of the ‘Banzai Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Strategic Information’ amongst other things that I’m sure are not mentioned in the film. With the help of one Dr. Hikita, Buckaroo invents the ‘Oscillation Overthruster’ a device that allows humans to travel through solid matter and into other dimensions! Unfortunately, it also opens a door for aliens from Planet 10 (called ‘Red Lectroids’) to escape from the 8^th Dimension! Now, these Red Lectroids want to go back to their home planet so they can rule it with an iron fist and they want to use Buckaroo’s Oscillation Overthruster to do it! Will Buckaroo and his Hong Kong Cavaliers find a way to stop them before it’s too late?

So yeah, this movie is fascinating to me in many ways. I like it because you feel like your falling right smack in the middle of a movie already in progress; this my friends, is not a film that will stop and explain every single little thing for you. This movie might have an outlandish plotline and a comic book premise, but it’s a film that expects you to be quick, to pay attention, this is not the kind of film where your brain can just wonder off, you have to pay attention to every single bit of dialog, or you’ll be lost on your way. Which is what I like about it, it’s a strange thing: a silly movie written by intelligent people. Yeah, it’s complicated in some ways, but not impossible to decipher as some might have you believe. Actually, if you stick with it, the inside jokes can be very rewarding!

Part of what makes this one so enjoyable is the amazing ensemble cast! We get Peter Weller playing Buckaroo, the main character in the film. He comes off as totally likable, like he’s this guy who knows everything about everything, the kind of guy you wish you could be, if you had the brain of a genius. I wish we could have seen more of his Samurai side. Then we have his gang of sidekicks, The Hong Kong Cavaliers, all geniuses themselves. One of them is played by Jeff Goldblum, who for some reason dresses up as a cowboy for the whole freaking film! Then we get the beautiful Ellen Arkin playing the role of Penny Priddy, boy does she look hot on this one! She pops up in the film as this depressed girl who wants to commit suicide, but is saved by Buckaroo, who detects her sadness in the middle of one of his rock and roll shows. Then we get a trio of Red Lectroids played by Christopher Lloyd, Dan Hedaya and Vincent Schiavelli. I mean, what’s not to like about this awesome cast? Everybody seems to be having a blast here; everybody got the spirit and tone of the film just right.

There are political symbolisms to be found in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai and I think that in order to completely understand it, we have to be conscious of the political climate of the 80’s, the fear of nuclear meltdown and the cold war.  This is yet another film that reflects society’s fears and concerns of the time. Like many of the films of the 80’s (War Games (1983) and The Manhattan Project (1985) for example) the fear of nuclear meltdown at the hands of the Russians is felt. The “Red Lectroids from Planet 10” are a clear allusion to the Russians, who were enemies to the Americans at the time. Russians have always been described as “Reds” by the Americans, same as the villains in the film are the “Red Lectroids”. The fear of nuclear meltdown is felt in one scene in which an alien race threatens to destroy Russia, and Perfect Tommy, one of Buckaroo’s right hand men says “The Russians might misinterpret the attack as an American strike; they’re already a little trigger happy!” and yet another allusion to how conscious people where of this nuclear tension can be seen in a moment in which an alien being tells Buckaroo and his team:  “If you fail, we will be forced to help you destroy yourselves” In this way, the filmmakers point at humanities tendency to threaten our own existence with nuclear weapons.

The villain of the film is played by the great John Lithgow, who is running on all cylinders on this one, playing the over the top villain ‘Lord John Whorfin’ a.k.a. Dr. Lizardo. He is the leader of the Red Lectroids that are scattered on earth. Lord John Whorfin is portrayed as a crazy fascist dictator “not unlike your Hitler”. He runs a company called ‘Yoyodine Propulsion Systems’; which is really a front for the Red Lectroids headquarters. The Red Lectroid’s headquarters has speakers blaring systematic brain washing messages like “The only joy is the joy of duty! Work, work, work!”  So this is a film that though funny and totally zany, is also heavy on political themes.  The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai might seem like a crazy movie to some, but at heart, it plays with a lot of important issues; the filmmakers where just having fun (and lots of it) as they said their piece with this film.

But I don’t want to make it sound like this is a film with a boring political agenda or what have you, nope; this movie is tons of zany fun. It is a completely offbeat film, right down to it's closing credits. It has so many ideas going for it that you feel like it is a set up for future films, as if a whole universe had been created and we were just seeing the tip of the iceberg. In actuality, more Buckaroo Banzai films were planned, proof of this is the promised sequel mentioned during the closing credits: Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League. They even hint at this planned  sequel when they talk about a villain called ‘Hanoi Xan’, the leader of the World Crime League. Sadly, this sequel never came to be because the first and only film failed horribly at the box office. Its failure can be attributed to its convoluted nature, but it also faced tough completion at the box office! Buckaroo Banzai went up against such smash hits as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Ghostbusters (1984), so it didn’t exactly get it easy at the box office; plus it was released in only a limited amount of theaters. But as it often happens with good films, Buckaroo Banzai has found its audience in home video, and its cult following grows. There’s been various Buckaroo Banzai novels and comic books released throughout the years, so you might want to look into those of if you can’t get enough of Buckaroo Banzai. Here’s hoping some day it gets the reboot treatment, because if you ask me, this things got potential!

Rating:  4 out of 5

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Title: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Director: Terry Gilliam

Cast: Johnny Depp, Benicio del Toro, , Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Gary Busey, Ellen Barkin, Cameron Diaz, Flea

Review:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in one of these movies that you either “get” and love, or you don’t get and hate. I fall under the category of those who love it to death. I don’t know what it is that attracts me towards Hunter S. Thompson’s own brand of ‘Gonzo Journalism’ I think there’s something that feels so very genuine about his writing style, it just feels like he was streaming his thoughts straight onto his typewriter. The main idea behind Thompson’s ‘Gonzo Journalism’ was to experience things first hand, to immerse himself and experience whatever it was he had to write about and then write about it. He didn’t just research and write. He lived, he experienced, and he dove head first into the world he was writing about. With ‘Gonzo Journalism’ you almost feel as if Hunter was walking around with his typewriter, typing things down as they happened. For example, he lived with the motorcycle gang known as ‘The Hells Angels’ for a year. He later wrote the book based on his experiences called Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of The Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.

Hunter S. Thompson and the real Dr. Gonzo Oscar Zeta Acosta

He used his ‘Gonzo Journalism’ style for writing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. The main purpose of his explorations was to do a “gross, physical salute to the fantastical possibilities of life in this country”; and for that, he aimed his guns at Las Vegas, the epicenter of greed, lust and decadence in America. The result was a novel that captured the madness of what American was like post 60’s early 70’s during the Nixon era, during the Vietnam War, when all anybody ever wanted was for said war to be over. As a result of the madness the country was living in during those days, many turned to drugs to forget, to wipe their minds clean of the craziness that was going on in their country. Thompson’s novel perfectly captures this sub culture that surfaced during that time and explores what it was like to live during those chaotic days.

The film presents us with two very unique individuals: Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo. These two characters are the alternate personas of Hunter S. Thompson and his real life partner  in crime and attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta respectively. Together they take a trip towards Las Vegas so that Raoul Duke can write an article for Sports Illustrated Magazine on the Mint 400 motorcycle race. But in reality, Raoul and Dr. Gonzo couldn’t care less about the Mint 400. What Raoul and Dr. Gonzo are really after is finding “the heart of the American Dream”; that and experimenting with every single type of mind altering drug known to man. Will they every find The American Dream? Will they survive their drug filled journey alive?

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was not an easy project to get made. Let’s face it; this isn’t the kind of project that Hollywood studios are jumping to make. It’s not a commercial film at all, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The film is an observation of an era; it attempted (successfully) to capture an era that was filled with revolt and general dissatisfaction with the way things were being done in America. On top of that, the films protagonists are drugged out of their minds through out the whole thing. Many filmmakers where at one point attached to direct this one, amongst them Martin Scorcese and Oliver Stone. For whatever reason they never got to direct the film. I have to be honest, I would have loved to see Oliver Stone’s version of Fear and Loathing, but ultimately, the film fell on the hands of Terry Gilliam, in many ways the perfect director to get this film made. Aside from the fact that many of Gilliam’s films have always had a subversive angle to them (Brazil (1984) is a great example of this) he also has that kinetic kind of crazy style of filmmaking. Hyperkinetic in nature, Gilliam’s camera movements and storytelling style have always felt to me like they come from a hyperactive child, always looking for something interesting, always walking away from boredom. This is a style of filmmaking that gels perfectly with Hunter S. Thompson equally scattershot, stream of consciousness style of writing. So Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (the film) is the perfect marriage of two like minded individuals; Hunter S. Thompson and Terry Gilliam.

Gilliam directs Depp

But with the wrong kind of actors, this film could have fallen apart. This project needed actors that would go all the way, that wouldn’t be afraid to get down and dirty; actors that would willingly explore the darker side of the human experience. Johnny Depp has always been a champion of Hunter S. Thompson’s work and actually still is to this very day, yet another Hunter S. Thompson film has been produced by him called The Rum Diary (2011), it’s playing in theaters as I type this. How gung-ho was Depp about getting Fear and Loathing made? Well, he lived with Thompson for four months, learning his movements and mannerisms, learning how the man thought and talked. A friendship blossomed from this experience between actor and writer that lasted long after the film was made. So much so, that it was Depp who fulfilled Thompson’s last wishes of having his ashes fired out of a cannon after his death! So Depp’s dedication towards this film (and getting Hunter S. Thompson’s name out there to the world) was always there from the beginning and it shines through in his performance. Del Toro wasn’t always a fan of Thompson’s work, but he’d heard of it. Still, his dedication on this performance is obvious. I’m a huge fan of Benicio’s. Aside from the fact that he is Puerto Rican (as am I) the guy is simply put, an awesome actor. Ever seen him in 21 Grams (2003)? Wow, you need to. And if you ever have a chance of seeing him in Fear and Loathing, well, you’re going to see one his most honest and bravest performances ever.

One of the best things about this film is its comedy, I mean, if you are a fan of that sarcastic, acid style of comedy, this one is a keeper. One scene has Dr. Gonzo about to pour some cocaine on top of a suit case, and suddenly a gust of wind knocks the salt shaker from his hand and the cocaine blows into the wind and he says “Did you see what God just did to us man?” with this Mexican sort of accent and Raoul answers him: “That wasn’t God! That was you! You’re a fucking narcotics agent! I knew it!” That type of comedy knocks me over! Speaking of lines from this movie, they are highly quotable! My favorite one is: “You took too much man, you took too much!” And everybody on this movie is freaking wired, I mean, everybody does their best to act all crazy and funny, even people with a short cameo will make you laugh. It seems it was a requirement in order to be on this movie.

Visually speaking the film takes advantage of filming in Las Vegas, and all the lights and the fakeness that comes with it. Most of the film takes place inside of hotel bars, casinos, hotel rooms, out on the streets of Las Vegas and in the dessert. There’s some beautiful cinematography on this one. I would rate this film amongst Gilliam’s best, no doubts. This film is the closest you’ll ever feel to using drugs, without using them. Other films have done this extremely well for example Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void (2009) is one of the finest examples of this (and a total visual trip of a film) but that one is very dramatic and serious, Fear and Loathing explores the same themes, but with a biting sense of humor. Final words on this one? The film explores the insanity, the desperation, the madness that comes from drug abuse. It does not glamorize drug use one bit; it tells it like it is. And on top of all that, the film analyzes why America chose to indulge in so much drug abuse during the 60’s and 70’s. Why does a nation have to resort to ignoring themselves through drug abuse? What was going on in the world at the time and how can that be avoided? Can it be avoided or are we headed towards a new similar drug era of our own? Will this generation ever know revolt? Today’s generation reminds me of a David Bowie song called ‘Sons of the Silent Age’, while the 60’s and 70’s were filled with rebellion and revolt, today’s generation seems contempt to just sit back and let the chips fall where they may. Fear and Loathing in The Modern World in deed.

Rating: 5 out of 5