It's recruiting time and despite being short and scrawny, Johnny Walker is America's hottest young football prospect. His dilemma: should he take one of the many offers from college talent scouts or should he attend the local state college with his girlfriend and give up his football career?
Anthony Michael Hall Robert Downey Jr. Uma Thurman Paul Gleason Steve James Jennifer Tilly Seymour Cassel Marshall Bell Deborah May Robert Downey Sr. John Hawkes John Pankow Michael Greene Michael Alldredge Jon Stafford Peter Koch Howard Cosell Jim McMahon George Hall Lucianne Buchanan Tony Frank Tim Rossovich Traci-Ann Dutton Barbara Cecka Karen Cecka Hayley Ladner Chris Dunn Lawrence Wolf Michael Colyar Show All…
Toutes folles de lui, Johnny Superstar, La grande promessa, Johnny, a tökéletes, Дилемата на Джони, Джонни, будь хорошим, Johnny Bom de Transa, Джонні, будь хорошим, Bądź dobry Johnny, 죠니 비 굿, Johnny, buď hodný, 反斗高材生
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Was there anyone better in the 80s at playing a self-serious, thinks he’s brilliant but is totally incompetent, white-collar sleazebag than Paul Gleason? In Johnny Be Good, the legendary character actor plays his role of the high school football coach, Wayne Hisler, almost exclusively for laughs. In Gleason’s hands, Hisler is a repulsive charlatan, worried life has passed him by and recognizes Johnny’s talents are likely his last opportunity to hit it big. Decked out in a seemingly endless array of colorful leisure suits and often seen behind the wheel of his 1975 AMC Pacer, Hisler is determined to get his, even though, in my opinion, he’s already done well for himself, having married a young, boisterous, and bouncy Jennifer…
Johnny be toxic masculinity
Poor Anthony Michael Hall,
Must decide where he wants to play ball.
He will be courted,
As laws are distorted,
Unless the Supreme Court makes a new call.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
After Zodiac I’m really not into RDJ’s career trajectory.. but I do love his 80’s roles... Especially his rando 80’s supporting roles so that’s why I watched this (plus Paul Gleason as his usual dick self, Uma Thurman, and Marshall Bell) but woof... this was not my jam.
Superb Owl week is upon us once again, which means it's time to celebrate all the glorious football legends of the past. One MVP performance I'd like to recognize on this holiest of weeks is that of Paul Xavier Gleason as Wayne Hisler in Johnny Be Good.
This is peak-level Gleason, trumping even his epic performance as Clarence Beeks in Trading Places and Assistant Principal Richard Vernon in The Breakfast Club. This is Gleason going full Gleason, unhinged and unrestrained by any directorial nonsense (who the hell is Bud Smith anyway? Sounds like the fat guy in charge of catering). Perhaps Robert Downey Jr. even sprinkled some cocaine flakes onto Gleason’s Golden Grahams each morning, because this is some outrageous shit…
The consensus is that this movie is terrible, and I suppose it is, if you judge a movie strictly on its artistic and technical merits. But let's focus on what it does gift us. To wit:
*1/8 star for Anthony Michael Hall recognizing that wheel route was wide open for a TD
*1/8 star for RDJ's frantic mugging and nostril-flaring
*1/8 star for Uma Thurman's winsome smile and onesie pajamas
*1/8 star for Paul Gleason going completely feral and unhinged
*1/8 star for Jennifer Tilly in full-on Betty Boop mode
*1/8 star for Jim McMahon and his contractual obligation to promote Adidas in this
*1/8 star for the amount of time devoted to AMH playing drums watching football highlights
*1/8…
Just awful. Meek Anthony Michael Hall is the least convincing high school football prodigy imaginable. Robert Downey Jr. is beginning to hone his smarmy, hammy craft. There's no discernible drama in Hall choosing between colleges and none of the broad humor is remotely funny. The inane homophobic gags ("I am a man and my asshole is exit only") are offensive, but the whole film is uniformly repugnant.
three stars for rdj and uma thurman only
Johnny Be Good is a combination of a John Hughes like teen film and those raunchy teen comedies of the 80's.
I can see why this one was greenlit.
We have Anthony Michael Hall, back then an upcoming star through the Hughes films, and a big boom of teen comedies like Animal House, American Virgin etc.
This one's a mash up, the problem is that it doesn't reach any heights.
There are some funny moments here or some emotional scenes there, but the tone and the script is too unfocused.
I never rooted for anybody, I just let it happen without being into it.
Robert Downey jr. is a scene stealer and takes most of his flat character.
There are…
Swinging from National Lampoon's-esque goofiness to John Hughes-style earnestness, "Johnny Be Good" can not quite figure out what it wants to be. A comedy starring Anthony Michael Hall as a quarterback vying for the attention of athlete-hungry colleges, the film finds Hall's Johnny Walker tempted and tested by those desiring his services. While the story could send the film into either big-hearted, coming-of-age territory or the high-volume raunch-com arena, the comedy chooses to find an uneasy perch in the middle where over-the-top gags collide with brief moments of authentic emotion. The work is watchable, spry, and interestingly cast, but it never satisfyingly reconciles those opposing energies.
3 stars for goofy rdj and goofy rdj only
i hate myself for pressing play but anything for uma
