Johnny Suede (1991)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Tom DiCillo

Writer:

Tom DiCillo (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 1992 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

Keeping up an image can be a full time job.

Plot Keywords:

Kiss | Birthday | Infidelity | Bass | Pay Phone

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Brad Pitt	...	Johnny Suede
Richard Boes	...	Man in Tuxedo
Cheryl Costa	...	Woman in Alley
Michael Luciano	...	Mr. Clepp
Calvin Levels	...	Deke
Nick Cave	...	Freak Storm
Ralph Marrero	...	Bartender
Wilfredo Giovanni Clark	...	Slick
Alison Moir	...	Darlette
Peter McRobbie	...	Flip Doubt
Ron Vawter	...	Winston
Dennis Parlato	...	Dalton
Tina Louise	...	Mrs. Fontaine
Michael Mulheren	...	Fred Business
Wayne Maugans	...	Ned Business

MPAA:

Rated R for language and elements of sexuality.

Runtime:

Spain:95 min | USA:97 min

Country:

France | USA | Switzerland

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Australia:M | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Arena

Trivia:

Tom DiCillo developed the screenplay from a monologue he wrote/performed in New York City.

Movie Connections:

Features The Terror of Tiny Town (1938)

weird and quirky

Hey now, I'd seen this around & I'm no Brad Pitt fan, but when I read in one of my movie guides that this was pretty surreal & qualified for induction into the "David Lynch Museum of the Weird" I though it would be worth a look. And it is, for the most part. The case says it's a "romantic comedy" (yechh) but it's much more than that, but what exactly is hard to pinpoint. Pitt is Johnny Suede, with a ridiculous hair style and the dream of being a star playing strange little songs. He's seeing this girl that claims her boyfriend beats her and then she decides not to see him anymore, then he takes up with Yvonne, who is a bit more strange. At one point he hooks up with some guy named Freak Storm (Nick Cave) who's sporting even a MORE ridiculous hairstyle and acting as an 'agent' from his office, which consists of a derelict recliner in an alley. There's sure lots of strange imagery, and dream-like wandering scenes, and this is probably too slow for some folks to appreciate, but it was just strange enough to be appealing to me. Pitt is fairly low-key so he was OK in this. I'm not really sure how to describe this, it's very hard to categorize this but I did kind of like it. 6 out of 10.