Johnny Handsome

Plot synopsis:
Petty career crook John Sedley (Mickey Rourke) is called Johnny Handsome because of his deformed face. His knack for observing and planning gets him and his friend into a robbery of a collectable coin store with Sunny Boyd (Ellen Barkin) and Rafe Garrett (Lance Henriksen) but the job goes sideways. Rafe and Sunny double cross the others killing everyone else in the job but Johnny. Johnny goes to jail and is warned that since this is his second time convicted for a felony, the next time makes him a third-time loser and he will be given the maximum sentence. In jail Johnny is accosted and knifed by two other inmates and sent to the hospital where he is visited by Lt. A.Z. Drones (Morgan Freeman) who tells him that Rafe paid to have him killed and urges Johnny to give evidence to take him down. While Johnny recuperates an enlightened Dr. Steven Fisher (Forrest Whitaker) believes that if he can repair Johnny's cleft palette and reconstruct his face he can change his life because the world will see him in a different more positive way. Lt. Drones tears down the doctor's ideas insisting that someone who is bad will continue being bad regardless of his looks'. Johnny agrees to the medical procedures and has his impaired speech and face changed and reenters society with a parole agreeing to continue psychological observation from the doctor. Johnny gets a job on a construction crew where he meets Donna McCarty (Elizabeth McGovern) who sees something special in Johnny but he pushes her away planning his revenge on those crooks that have double crossed him. He approaches Rafe and Sunny with a job to rob the construction site and things go along fine until suspicions cause curiosity.

Tags: revenge, neo noir, murder, violence

Review:
Mickey Rourke gives an astonishing performance as John Sedley a deformed thug who gets a chance at a normal life when a kind Doctor (Forrest Whitaker) asks to do plastic surgery on Sedley.
Sedley accepts and is torn between going straight or getting revenge on the two(Lance Henriksen and Ellen Barkin) that killed his friend Mikey (Scott Wilson)in this compelling yet slightly long drama.
Mickey Rourke is great as a deformed criminal who returns to avenge the people (Ellen Barkin and Lance Henriksen) who wronged him.
Johnny's love interest, Elizabeth McGovern, who was great in a similar role in "Racing With The Moon", is wasted and just doesn't belong in this material.Lance Henriksen and Ellen Barkin are great as two of the oiliest lowlifes to impact with a movie screen in years.
If the film had focused more on this duo and less on McGovern and another subplot involving Forest Whitaker, who is saddled with a dreadfully written role as a doctor who tries to help Johnny, it would have been a true contender.The opening robbery scene is classic Hill -- brutal and economical -- and sets high expectations for the mayhem to come.
For me, the movie was $15 well spent.Mickey Rourke plays John Sedley, a small-time hood whose deformation has given him the nickname, "Johnny Handsome", who is in the midst of planning a robbery with his friend, Mikey Chalmette (Played by Scott Wilson) and 2 other criminals, Rafe and Sunny (Played by the always great Lance Henriksen and Ellen Barkin.) In the middle of the robbery, John and Mikey are double-crossed by Sunny and Rafe.
This is not your typical revenge action picture.The movie can best be described as a gritty, noir-ish crime drama with a sci-fi twist that maintains plausibility instead of running off the rails into comedic territory as with 1997's Face/Off. The film moves at a brisk pace, which is fine, but this fact ultimately winds up being the only flaw with Johnny Handsome.
A longer run time allowing for more scenes to flesh out the characters portrayed by the great supporting cast would have made this already outstanding film a true classic.It would really be nice to see Walter Hill direct another action film one of these days.
It stars Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern, Lance Henriksen, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman and Scott Wilson.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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").
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.
If you like this film, I also suggest "TheElephant Man", by David Lynch (for the life-with-disfigurementaspects), or "The Warriors", by Walter Hill, as a great, earlyexample of this same director's work.8/10  Mickey Rourke at his best!.
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.
Johnny Handsome (Mickey Rooker) is a deformed gangster who planned a successful robbery with a friend of him Mikey Chalmette (Scott Wilson) and the couple Sunny Boid (Ellen Barkin) and Rafe Garrett (Lance Henriksen).
Many reviews to date regarding the 1989 film 'Johnny Handsome' claimed that the Walter Hill crime thriller was a slow moving, poorly aimed feature.
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.
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.
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 colour into its scenes.
In many respects, it's a moral tale, which is surprising but in a good way.Maybe 'Johnny Handsome' was too honest, thoughtful and too unconventionally cool for critics expecting yet another Walter Hill all-male shoot em up after he gave the world 'Extreme Prejudice' and 'Red Heat' but maybe it was Hill's decision to wear his grizzled heart on his sleeve, to allow his main character to fall in love and to want forgiveness, that let down his 98% male audience.
You will be impressed by the film's monumental scene where Forest Whitaker reveals Handsome's new face, in turn revealing the jubilation he certainly has dreamt about his whole life.
Johnny Handsome emerges from the film noir envelope of the 1940s, out of movies with bleak streets and bitter laughter, with characters who dwell in sourpuss crash pads and regard bars as their personal salons.
It is set in New Orleans, a city with a film noir essence, and it stars Mickey Rourke, who siphons himself into the role of a burnt-out down-and-outer who has as good as withdrawn himself.
Not that many movies have the utter nostalgia, ruefulness and grit that this movie evokes throughout.And the movie is definitely enhanced by tenacious supporting performances by a remarkably notable cast including Ellen Barkin, playing one rotten apple riding roughshod over any and everything that even comes close to boring her; Morgan Freeman in a rare role as a mean, cold man, a lone-wolf cop just waiting for Johnny to slip up; Lance Henriksen, on the other hand, breaking out of all those stoic roles to eat up the scenery as a formidably wicked character of almost comic-book proportions; and Forest Whitaker, that urgent ray of sunlight in Johnny's life, that one presence who is highly educated and highly compassionate and ennobled by his profession.
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.
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.
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.
Johnny Handsome is not only a great Film Noir but also a great character study of John Sedley.
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.
Mickey Rourke (whose last good film perhaps this is) plays John Sedley /Johnny Handsome' and labours for the first part of the film under make up presumably inspired by the Elephant Man - as well as a handicapping mumble, recalling the actor's idol Marlon Brando.
But all he wants is revenge.All of the actors in the film are great, Mickey Rourke's sullen and mysterious Johnny, Morgan Freeman as the detective who won't buy that Johnny has reformed, and best of all Barkin and Hendrickson as two criminals who seem to dislike each other as much as they dislike everyone else.My rating 8/10.
With a Killer Cast including Lance Henriksen, Ellen Barkin, Morgan Freeman, and Forest Whitaker it is Mickey Rourke as the Title Character that Slinks Back in the Frame and Plays Off the Others with Pathos and Empathy that draws the Viewer into this Violent and Edgy Neo-Noir.It is a Colorful Downer of a Movie that has Roots in the Pulp Fiction and Film Noir of the Thirties and Forties.
Walter Hill's bluesy, melancholic crime thriller Johnny Handsome is a grimy concoction of violent heists and brutal shootouts held together by a character study of facially deformed career criminal John Sedley (Mickey Rourke).
The movie tells the story about a man named John Sedley (Mickey Rourke), who was born with a badly deformed face.
Johnny Handsome has a lot of film-noir style and feeling to it, since this movie does take place in New Orleans.
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") .
First of all, i'm a great fan of Walter Hill, i think he's still one of the most underrated filmmakers ever and his 'genre' films are among the best released between the mid-70's to the late 80's."Johnny Handsome" came to Hill, fresh from "Red Heat" ('88), after several directors declined it, with the script, adapted from John Godey's hardboiled novel "The Three Worlds of Johnny Handsome" (released in '72), being postponed in Hollywood for more than a decade.Al Pacino, once attached to the project in hopes for his comeback after the monumental failure of Hugh Hudson's "Revolution" ('85), quit after disagreements over the screenplay's direction and choose to do the sleeper hit, "Sea of Love" ('89), curiously also with Ellen Barkin, instead.In his place, Hill hired the mysterious & ultra charming 'bad boy' Mickey Rourke which was, in my opinion, THE icon of the sensitive macho with attitude during that Era. As the supreme method actor, and one of the best since Clift or Brando, Rourke understood the dark nature of the character, his issues and moral dilemmas, turning the role from a pulp novel / B-movie into the realms of an Oscar worthy performance, if the screenplay had been more effective and the editing less 'cut and run'.
And that's the main problem with "Johnny Handsome", the movie feels like was on a urge to finish in less than 90 minutes (the regular lenght time for such Walter Hill's movies as "The Driver"; "48 Hrs."; "Brewster's Millions" or "Crossroads") and a story like this, needed time to breathe and develop some sub-plots and its secondary characters.The sets (both indoors & outdoors), the neo-noirish cinematography and the musical score provided by Hill's all time brilliant collaborator, Ry Cooder, are top notch, with Hill coming back to the moody, somber & sweaty New Orleans, Louisiana where he previously filmed his debut film "Hard Times" ('75) and "Southern Comfort" ('81), giving to "Johnny Handsome" a southern gothic touch both visually and in narrative terms.The supporting players are all great in their roles: from the over-the-top / cheesy, but very interesting to follow, Lance Henriksen & Ellen Barkin, as the sleazy couple of violent crooks; Morgan Freeman, fresh from his first Oscar nomination for "Street Smart" ('87), playing essentially a similar character, but this time on the right side of the law; Forest Whitaker as the good-hearted surgeon; Scott Wilson, as Johnny's old buddy / mentor and Elizabeth McGovern, playing the 'girl next door' type as the protagonist's love interest.They all struggled to develop and enhance their characters, but the 'flashy' cuts to the movie, didn't do them justice.
Pay attention / hear his voice before and after the facial reconstruction and how Mickey handled the character's speech impediment.In short, "Johnny Handsome" should have been seen more like a character study and a drama / tragedy with some action elements and less as an action manly movie in the vein of Hill's previous films, it hurted the movie's chances at the B.O, back in the Fall of '89, but at the same time that was what the producers wanted in the first place, a 90 minutes straight movie full of colorful characters, robberies, betrayals, car chases and gunshots, but Johnny deserved so much better than that...As a side note, I still give it a 9 due to the amazing Mickey Rourke and his magnetic / hypnotic presence on-screen (even a straight guy can't take his eyes away from him everytime he appears) and his John Garfield / 'Brandoesque', sensitive performance, but it deserves no more than an 8 as a whole, it could have easily been a 10 / 10 film..
Johnny Handsome (1989) *** (out of 4)John Sedley (Mickey Rourke) is a deformed criminal who goes to pull a heist with Rafe (Lance Henriksen) and Sunny (Ellen Barkin) but they double cross him, which leads him into prison.
He did a wonderful job at playing the deformed character and he really comes to life once he becomes the handsome guy who sets out for revenge.
You've then got a nice turn by Whitaker, a good performance from Elizabeth McGovern and then there's Morgan Freeman playing a cop who you never know what he's up to.The film contains a great score, some really good cinematography and of course there's Walter Hill's eye that helps pull all of this together.
John Sedley (Mickey Rourke) is derisively called Johnny Handsome for his disfigured face.
Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Morgan Freeman, Forest Whitaker and Lance Henrikson.
Ellen Barkin plays so well a hell of bitch and Morgan Freeman portrays effectively and jubilantly a cynical cop.As for Mickey Rourke, i don't know what to say for his acting as his role requests almost no acting, wearing a mask on his face for half the movie.....
Mickey Rourke does nicely as the title character, a small time criminal with a deformed face who's had a pretty hard knock life.
This was a great movie with some fantastic performances by all involved!, especially Rourke, Freeman, and Henriksen!.
Ellen Barkin and Lance Henrickson are perfect in their roles as scum bags and Roarke is great as the formerly deformed Johnny Handsome who gets a new face then tries to get revenge on the people who killed his partner.