Iseerphia
All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.
Orla Zuniga
It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
Keeley Coleman
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
swearingen_ar
This is very underrated movie! My cable company gave it only one Star out of five. The IMDb is only 6.2 stars out of ten. The acting is actually quite good. Maureen Stapleton is a hoot! Michael Keaton does a good job.This is not a serious,. dramatic movie. It is satire and as sub is excellently done!Just sit back and enjoy. Is is a fun movie!On an enjoyment scale this is 9. Okay, so it is not The Godfather, few are on that level. Pop a big bowl of popcorn, get some cold soda and then get ready for a great movie fargen movie night!
st-shot
This prosaic piece of satiric trash spoofing 30s gangster film doesn't have enough humor in it to sustain a five minute TV skit. The actors are either over the top (Joe Piscopo, Dom Delouise) or flat and lifeless (Michael Keaton, Maureen Stapleton) as they waste their time and display none in this force fed bore.Johnny's (Michael Keaton) hypochondriac mom needs an operation on a regular basis so he throws in with Jocko Dundee on a caper to earn the money. He excels and earns a reputation as a man to be feared while Johnny's greatest is that his mother will find out. Dundee's rival Danny Vermin (Piscopo) sets up Johnny who is then prosecuted by his brother the DA. Will Johnny fry ? Perhaps, but it's director Ammy Heckerling and her writers that need to be executed since there's a complete lack of it in this bites it satire.Heckerling has made a career out of fair (Fast Time at Ridgemont High, Clueless ) to mediocre (European Vacation) to beyond dreadful (Night at the Roxbury) comedies as well as waste time with baby talk ( Look Whose Talking saga) but Johnny Dangerously may be arguably her worst. The satiric intent is strained at best and the jokes themselves sophomoric and poorly timed. Griffin Dunne looks and acts like he won the lead in a contest while the rest of the cast of old pros,( Boyle, Stapleton and Ray Walston ) play it broad and for a paycheck. Piscopo as Vermin has a few funny moments before he begins to chew too loudly but by then Heckerlings hackery has already fractured the films funny bone.
CitizenCaine
Amy Heckerling's second film Johnny Dangerously is a parody of 1930's gangster films made in the Warner Brothers' tradition. Michael Keaton stars as a middle aged gangster looking back at his life of hard knocks when he catches a kid trying to steal something from his pet store in 1935. Keaton's mother (Maureen Stapleton) has continuing health problems, so Keaton falls into crime at an early age via Peter Boyle. Meanwhile, the fargan Richard Dimitri plays a rival crime lord to Boyle and Keaton eventually rises through the ranks. Joe Piscopo has a hilarious turn as Danny Vermin, yeah that's right, Vermin! Griffin Dunne is Keaton's younger brother turned district attorney, Glynnis O'Connor his wife, and Marilu Henner plays Keaton's moll. The film looks notoriously cheap, making it seem like a television show instead of a theatrical film.The film starts out great and then slows down as expected after the first half hour. Due to the combination of dialog and gags, the film holds its own for the first half, but then it rapidly loses steam and descends into mediocrity and vulgarity in the second half. Keaton chews the scenery doing his best James Cagney impression. Stapleton has several vulgar lines that are only obnoxious, not funny. Piscopo does the "once" bit one time too many. Several supporting actors try to hold up the fort like Danny DeVito, Dom DeLuise, Ray Walston as a street vendor, Alan Hale, Jr. as a desk sergeant, and Sudie Bond as an unscrupulous cleaning lady. The second half evolves into a hit or miss television show type tone and never recovers. The closing scene utilizing The Roaring Twenties is an anachronism as is The Call Of The Wild Clark Gable film seen on a marquee earlier in the film. I think Heckerling should have known better, since the targeted audience would certainly be aware of The Roaring Twenties' actual 1939 release date. *1/2 of 4 stars.
historian64
Oh, what fun there is here! Amy Heckerling has a flair for directing comedy (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Look Who's Talking) but here it looks like she told the actors to go out and have fun. Micheal Keaton breezes through the role of Johnny, easily his best screen performance. Joe Piscopo is great as the appropriately named Danny Vermin, what a shame directors didn't pick up on this. And I have even mentioned Richard Dimitri playing Moronie and the character's unique vocabulary. I don't think it's an accident that the bulk of the character's name is spelled MORON.Good lines are sprinkled throughout the movie, with Peter Boyle, Griffit Dunne.Maurren Stapleton, Merilu Henner given good lines. Even actors with minor roles like Dick Butkus and Alan Hale get in a good lines.recommend it to a friend.
