reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/27/84)
Seeing a comedy with a small audience always works against
it, and that's the way I saw "Johnny Dangerously". With fewer
people in the audience to build up the laughter, comedies just
don't seem as funny. Keeping this in mind, I would rate "Johnny
Dangerously" as a fair comedy. Even with a slight dispensation
for poor attendance at an early show, it isn't really funny
enough to get by. The idea behind it is neutral. A spoof of
angster films, starring Michael Keaton, could have been quite fun-
ny, or it could have been a total loser. "Johnny Dangerously"
winds up somewhere in between.
The story is told in flashback, as Keaton, a pet store own-
er, cautions a youth against a life of crime, using his own life
as an example. This setup is a little shopworn, and is fairly
typical of the entire film: a few good ideas well executed, a few
good ideas thrown away, and several not so good ideas. The
remainder of the film is a parody of the rise-and-fall-of-the-
gangster cliche. Johnny, a basically good boy, is forced to
enter a life of crime to pay for the treatment of his mother's bizarre
ailments. Meanwhile, his kid brother is studying law to become a
crime-fighting DA. Befriended by a kindly mob boss (Peter
Boyle), Johnny Malone, under the pseudonym of the title,
becomes a wealthy and important figure in the crime rackets.
Eventually, inevitably, his incorruptible brother sets out to
nail him, little knowing that his sibling is the notorious gang-
ster.
They probably made a couple hundred films using variations
on this plot during the 1930s, so it's ripe for parody. The
filmmakers have unwisely chosen to use "Airplane!" as their role
model, however. Without the zany inventiveness of the makers of
that film, the all-out, anything-for-a-laugh approach collapses
under the strain of too many bad jokes. The anachronisms and
irrelevancies become tedious instead of funny. Somewhere along
the line, someone must have thought that having Johnny switch
from a Charleston to break dancing was funny, someone must have
thought that the mere mention of the Cambridge diet plan was
amusing, and someone must have thought that having Maureen Sta-
pleton, as Johnny's mother, perform obscene gestures was uproari-
ous. Well, they're not funny. The ideas aren't funny and the
execution isn't funny.
The last of these, the continuing and unlikely vulgarity of
Maureen Stapleton's character, points up another plus and minus
of "Johnny Dangerously". There's a lot of sex and toilet humor
in this film. Most of it isn't funny, but some of the film's
best moments come when an immigrant crime boss of unknown pro-
venance mangles various dirty words into hilarious distortions
which are clearly recognizable and yet almost printable in family
newspapers. A couple other very funny moments arise from sex
jokes. Director Amy Heckerling, who last did "Fast Times At
Ridgemont High", is perhaps too willing to prove that being a
woman doesn't keep her from telling dirty jokes. I think the
point is made after two films full of them, so she can now go
ahead and only tell the funny ones.
"Johnny Dangerously" is filled with ambivalences. Its
treatment of violence is a good case in point. Most of it is of
the Roadrunner variety, where bombs explode and the victims em-
erge with scowls on their blackened faces. I would say that this
is certainly the right approach, since you can't easily switch
gears from farce to black comedy, and the latter is the only way
death plays funny. Why, then, did the filmmakers choose to actu-
ally kill a couple of people? At least one of the deaths seems
motivated by plot demands, but working around it would very like-
ly have provided a funnier twist. The occasional outburst of
real death is rather like finding a bit of bone in a chocolate
souffle.
Michael Keaton doesn't seem as funny in this film as in "Mr.
Mom" or "Night Shift". I don't think that parody is Keaton's
forte. He seems to be more inventive in a realistic setting.
Also, Keaton shows no aptitude for working in a comic ensemble.
His previous films gave him almost all the jokes, with everyone
else mostly serving as straightmen (and -women). He's not nearly
as good at receiving a joke as at telling one. Joe Piscapo has a
medium sized part as a psychopathic hood. As with Keaton, this
part doesn't seem to play to his strengths. Peter Boyle is ami-
able, Danny De Vito is good as a corrupt DA, and Dom Deluise puts
in a mercifully brief appearance. Maureen Stapleton does well
enough with the persistent vulgarities dealt to her, but she
deserves better. Marilu Henner is OK as Johnny's girlfriend, and
even gets a couple of good lines. A number of fairly well known
character actors show up for brief scenes, and are mostly wasted.
"Johnny Dangerously" just isn't funny enough. Everyone in-
volved tries hard, but this sort of comedy makes me yearn for the
professionalism of the Marx Brothers, who tried out their gags on
stage in front of audiences before putting them in films. Modern
comedians and their directors could do much worse than to follow
this example.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherbrett@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/27/84)
I agree. I saw this movie at least 6 months ago at a studio
sneak preview. I thought it was terrible. Nonetheless, 6
months later..(probably with some changes) its been released.
I dont know if they've changed it.....so the fact that the movie
wasn't great then should have no bearing on its current status
(ahem!). When I saw it I was very glad I didnt have to
pay to see it.
Maybe changes have been made to it.
--
Brett Fleisch
University of California Los Angeles
3804 Boelter Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Phone: (213) 825-2756, (213) 474-5317
brett@ucla-cs.ARPA or
...!{cepu, ihnp4, trwspp, ucbvax}!ucla-cs!brett
-------------------------------------------------------------------------trb@masscomp.UUCP (Andy Tannenbaum) (01/02/85)
As my pal here at Masscomp, Clem Cole, would say, "It doesn't suck." I saw the previews and hoped for the best, and heard about some reviews and expected worse. I went to see Johhny D and found an entertaining movie. Yes, the toilet humor was puerile, but there were warm moments and amusing moments to take up the slack. Michael Keaton (as Johnny D) was a likeable character, and that's half the battle right there. Joe Piscopo, in a minor role, stayed out of Keaton's way, which is to his credit, considering his popularity in the pop humor scene. If you don't enjoy having fun, then stay home. See if I care. Andy Tannenbaum Masscomp Westford, MA (617) 692-6200 x274