Johnny Suede
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brad Pitt, Calvin Levels, Cheryl Costa, Michael Luciano (II), Richard BoesDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-08-30
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of Johnny Suede
Movie Review: An odd, unique, affecting film
Summary: 5 Stars
JOHNNY SUEDE does what indie films do best. It presents an odd, unique vision that's tough to describe or market. (A similar oddball film is THE LAST BIG THING).
The film takes place in Brooklyn, but you wouldn't know it unless you read the credits. It's not the recognizable Brooklyn of Spike Lee, or Woody Allen, or John Travolta. With the sparse sets and anachronistic pop music costumes (of Darlette, Johnny, and Freak) I wasn't even sure about the time period. Sometimes it seems to be set in a surreal alternate realm (like STREETS OF FIRE).
Johnny is a musician who plays retro rock, but his huge pompadour hair is so buffonish, one wonders if he's not meant as a caricature, a joke that no one quite gets. Then one sees Freak Storm in the same hair, and one wonders again if we're in an alternate realm in which this is a common style. (We see the same bizarre hair in TROUBLE IN MIND, and that film was indeed set in the near future.)
Like STREETS OF FIRE, JOHNNY SUEDE draws you in. You can't try and figure out this film, you just have to accept it on its own terms and enjoy the ride.
The music is excellent. I wish they'd release a soundtrack, though it seems they never have.
I disagree with a comment that said that everyone takes advantage of Johnny. I see it as largely the other way. Johnny is a parasite and sloth. (1) Deek tries to help him with getting a real job, and even lends him money. Johnny shows no gratitude. (2) Johnny turns down a music gig because it goes against his artistic sensibility to perform without a bassist, even though the other band members are ready and willing to go ahead. Then Johnny complains that it's the others who are no help. (3) Not wanting to work, Johnny comes up with the idea of robbing a barber shop. Deek does the work of getting the gun, but Johnny flakes out. (4) Yvonne is a devoted girlfriend, cooking for Johnny, baking him a birthday cake, buying him a shirt, and Johnny only cheats on her in return. (5) Johnny is behind on his rent, so he's also taking advantage of his landlord. (6) And Johnny tries to take advantage of Darlette's music business mother. Sure, she also wants to bed him. But does that let Johnny off the hook?
Ultimately, JOHNNY SUEDE is fascinating to watch, occassionally funny (especially Freak Storm), with great music. But it's also a depressive film. These people do not live great lives, and there's no bright future ahead. All they have is their youth, which allows them to dream. What will happen when they're no longer young?
Johnny is happy only because he's too dense to know better, his vision of reality obscured by his dream world. However, there's a hint of hope at the end, in that he apologizes to Yvonne and loses his shoe (the latter perhaps symbolizing his budding maturity).
I've seen this film several times. Well worth a look for fans of oddball indie films.
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