GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Predrag This is a latter-day noir masterpiece, far too low-key, grimy, and pessimistic to get the respect it deserved the first time around, but thanks to Amazon, maybe it is now getting the reappraisal it richly deserves. If memory serves correctly, Roger Ebert was one of the few critics to understand how good this thing was during its initial run. A moody, somber revenge films that recalls the film noir of the 40's. Great cast led by Rourke as the disfigured ironically named "cheap crook" of the title. A crook who is wronged and uses a controversial facial surgery to seek revenge against the scumbags that killed Johnny's friend, framed him and tried to kill him twice.Director Walter Hill was on a tear in the late 70's until the mid 80's (with a certain revival period in the 90's, when he dipped his toe into the Western Genre). This movie features several actors at the peak of their powers, including Morgan Freeman (before he was typecast as a good-natured, paternalistic friend (i.e. in "The Bucket List" or "Shawshank Redemption"). Ellen Barkin and Lance Henriksen are suitably over the top, and Forrest Whitaker inhabits his character with compassion and sensitivity. The only possible weak link is a miscast Elizabeth McGovern doing a painfully bad Cajun/Creole accent. The city of New Orleans (previously featured in Hill's "Hard Times" with Charles Bronson) is also a strong presence throughout. Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

NateWatchesCoolMovies Walter Hill's bluesy, melancholic crime thriller Johnny Handsome is a grimy concoction of violent heists and brutal shootouts held together by a character study of facially deformed career criminal John Sedley (Mickey Rourke). Sedley, looking like a cross between the elephant man and an orc, is a withdrawn, awkward outsider whose only success has been in illegal activities. Him and his partner (Scott Wilson) hook up with evil pair of dirtbags Rafé Garett (Lance Henriksen) and Sunny Boyd (Ellen Barkin) to pull off a jewelry store job. They get double crossed by the no good shitheels, his partner winds up dead, and Johnny gets caught. As part of an experimental program, Johnny undergoes a procedure to have his face altered to look normal. It's a success, and with a new face, Johnny gets parole, a legit job and begins to start anew. However, the bloody betrayal still haunts him, and slowly he starts to want revenge. This film lives in the snappy world of garish, larger than life criminals and hard nosed, mean spirited cops, a heightened, slimy version of the action genre that Hill delivers like the pro he is. Moody blues, smoky, detritus stained alleyways and the ever present vibe of the seedy side of New Orleans permeate every alcove of this piece, giving it a distinct, off noir flavor. Rourke nails the transformation from out casted freak into alpha dog slick tough guy like a caterpillar emerging from its cocoon, making us feel for Johnny despite his sordid lifestyle. Henriksen is a preening, sickening monster as street rat Garrett, a high strung, sadistic degenerate that will shoot his mother in the face if he thought he'd get a dollar and a smoke out of it. Barkin is a snake, oozing sluttiness and petulant, psychotic damaged goods charm from every whiny drawl and coy little grimace, the ultimate bad girl. Morgan Freeman turns up in a rare tough guy turn, as A.Z. Drones, the uptight cop who sees nothing but trash in Johnny and has no hope for any change. Freeman's reaction to Johnny's new face is one of sarcastic, stunned hilarity and is a career best scene from him. Forest Whitaker makes an appearance as the sympathetic doctor in charge of the operation, and Elizabeth Mcgovernn is a welcome breath of fresh air from the greasy rogues gallery, as a nice girl he meets at his legit job. This gritty yarn waltzes in straight from a dime store novella, and Hill knows how to guide it just this side of silly, with just the right amount of cheeky pulp, grounded writing, rambunctious, blood soaked shootouts, and well, bold drawn characterizations.

blazesnakes9 A lot of films that I've seen over the years have gotten good or great box office gross or didn't get enough attention when it was first released. Johnny Handsome is one movie that I think should be look over again. According to the box office gross for Johnny Handsome, it didn't get a lot of attention when it was first released. I wonder why. Audiences really missed this buried treasure. And, after watching this movie for the second time around, I still questioned why it didn't get enough attention. The movie tells the story about a man named John Sedley (Mickey Rourke), who was born with a badly deformed face. At the beginning of the movie, we learned that Sedely is being used as part of a robbery. He is being clued in on what is about to go down. Two other partners-in-crime, Sunny (Ellen Barkin) and Rafe (Lance Henriksen) are also involved with the robbery. The plan doesn't go smoothly as one of the partners is shot dead at the scene of the crime, leaving Johnny alone to take the blame. Johnny then is sentenced to jail at Angola, where a kind surgeon, (Forest Whitaker), decides to give Johnny a new name, a new face and a new chance in life. At first, Sedley thinks about this, and later on, the surgeon performed plastic surgery on Johnny's face. When Johnny does get his new face, however, he starts to develop difficulties on his new face. One of those difficulties is learning how to speak with his new face. After the surgeon finishes the rest of Johnny's new face, he is ready to go out and find a job. He is even released on parole. But, Johnny's criminal past isn't over for him. Lieutenant Drones (Morgan Freeman), is assigned to investigated the robbery that landed Johnny behind bars. He believes that Johnny can't escape his past because he knows that Johnny is going to avenge the death of his partner and also for the people who put him away. As the movie progresses, Johnny begins to develop a relationship between an desk secretary (Elizabeth McGovern), who works at the shipyard that Johnny is working at. Later on in the film, Sedley tries to get both Sunny and Rafe to go along with his plan of knocking off the shipyard. Johnny's plan leads up to the fantastic climax, where Johnny have a showdown between Sunny and Rafe and another partner-in-crime, along with McGovern's character as well. The movie was directed by Walter Hill, who also directed 48 HRS. and The Warriors, and Hill directs this film with a lot of style. It's almost like this film is in the great tradition of films from the 1940's. Johnny Handsome has a lot of film-noir style and feeling to it, since this movie does take place in New Orleans. Also, I really do enjoyed watching film-noir movies, especially this one since the characters all live in a world that is filled up with so much anger and rage. The music score by Ry Cooder really makes this film works and feel like a film from the '40's. I admired a lot of the performances in this film, especially Rourke, Barkin and Henriksen. In my opinion, I believe that this is one of Mickey Rourke's best performances. As we watch him try to redeem himself, we forget that we are watching a great performance. We care a lot about Johnny in this movie because he's trapped in this dangerous environment. I also noticed how angry these characters were and how hostile they were toward each other. That kind of behavior really illustrates how ugly and cruel this world is. Johnny can't seem to escape his past because he can't stand living in the past. From my point-of-view, Johnny is torn from two completely different worlds. One world involving people trying to steer Johnny away from trouble like the Elizabeth McGovern's character and the Forest Whitaker's character and another world involving people who want Johnny to get into trouble or bring him back into his own criminal past, like the Ellen Barkin's character or the Lance Henriksen's character. Even the Morgan Freeman's character can be included in that particular world. Seeing this film again made me feel a little better because I didn't lose interest to it. I really enjoyed watching this tale unfold and having this buried treasure be seen by me. I hope people get a chance to see this movie because like I said before, this movie didn't get enough attention when it was first released. If you haven't seen it already, I advised you to see it for the first time. You will not be disappointed. ★★★ 1/2 3 1/2 stars.

RTheManF89 Having seen the trailer multiple times as well as seeing 2 other Walter Hill films (Red Heat and Trespass), I had come across this underrated gem at Borders for $15. And I decided, why not? For me, the movie was $15 well spent.Mickey Rourke plays John Sedley, a small-time hood whose deformation has given him the nickname, "Johnny Handsome", who is in the midst of planning a robbery with his friend, Mikey Chalmette (Played by Scott Wilson) and 2 other criminals, Rafe and Sunny (Played by the always great Lance Henriksen and Ellen Barkin.) In the middle of the robbery, John and Mikey are double-crossed by Sunny and Rafe. Mikey ends up killed and Johnny is arrested. While in jail, Lt. Drones (Played by Morgan Freeman) offers Johnny a chance to participate in a rehab program. Johnny accepts the offer and while at the rehab, Johnny is stabbed and taken to a hospital. At the hospital, the sympathetic Dr. Steven Fisher (Played by Forest Whitaker) gives Johnny a new face, a new identity (Johnny is given the name Johnny Mitchell), and a new shot at life. Johnny is eventually granted parole and gets a job at a plant. Going straight isn't all that easy, however. What Johnny really intends to do is get even with Rafe and Sunny.I found the film to be an intense and underrated revenge noir that really deserves more attention than it already has. The score by Ry Cooder (Also responsible for the equally good score for Trespass) fits the film well too. The only thing that I did not like about the film was the ending, which was pretty sad. Nevertheless, it's a fun film that will hopefully, get more recognition in the future.Highly recommended.DVD Extras: The movie is presented in a crisp 1.33:3 full frame format, although I really don't know why Artisan decided against showing the film in it's original 1.85 aspect ratio, but it's still a good presentation. It's also VHS sourced, as if you watch the film all the way to the end, you'll see the I.V.E. logo.