Explosive
Summary
From Walter Hill, whose unique filmmaking style is on display throughout, Johnny Handsome is really about how people can’t change no matter how many chances they’re given to start over. The cast is incredible, with Rourke front and center in a risky role that requires him to hide behind a lot of facial makeup for more than half the movie, and Hill gives everyone plenty to work with here. Ry Cooder did the rock score, and the film has held up remarkably well.
Plot: After a heist goes bad and a small time crook is betrayed and sent to prison, a surgeon reconstructs his face and gives him a new identity … leaving him some very interesting options for when he is eventually paroled.
Review: With a face that nearly rivals the Elephant Man’s and a cleft pallet that restricts his speech, small time crook Johnny Handsome (Mickey Rourke in an admirably restrained performance), has limited options in life, and when he is betrayed by a couple of cold blooded thieves (played by a slick Lance Henriksen and an unrestrained Ellen Barkin), he’s sent to prison for five years. Nearly killed in prison on a work detail, Johnny is given an incredible opportunity when a surgeon (played by Forest Whitaker) offers him a once-in-a-lifetime chance: Over time, he’ll completely reconstruct his facial deformities and fix his cranial abnormalities, and in the meantime, he’ll take speech classes to be able to speak properly. The prison system allows him to change his name and have it on the books that he died so that he can completely restart his life when he’s eventually paroled, and when the experiment works, Johnny not only has a brand new face and can speak and not feel shame when doing so, but he has a new name and false background to go with it. He is released early on a work program, and his new life begins: He gets a girlfriend (played by Elizabeth McGovern), and his parole officer (played by Morgan Freeman) tries keeping a close eye on him, knowing that Johnny will very likely go back to his old ways and seek revenge … which is exactly what Johnny sets out to do. He goes straight to his old acquaintances who betrayed him and tried to have him killed, and he plans his revenge …
From Walter Hill, whose unique filmmaking style is on display throughout, Johnny Handsome is really about how people can’t change no matter how many chances they’re given to start over. The cast is incredible, with Rourke front and center in a risky role that requires him to hide behind a lot of facial makeup for more than half the movie, and Hill gives everyone plenty to work with here. Ry Cooder did the rock score, and the film has held up remarkably well.
Kino Lorber’s new 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray combo looks and sounds great in a new 4K scan, and the discs come with two audio commentaries, an interview with Hill, a new interview with McGovern, several other bonus interviews, and the trailer, plus a slipcover.