Johnny Suede

Now, personally, I would give this movie a 7. But from a viewing perspective, and general public take, I would give it a 5 or 5.5.

It tells the story of a young man who is aiming to become a big shot musician. He is struggling to reach that state, and it is clear he is not trying very hard to get his career running. He meets a few girls along the way, performs with his band, meets some good industry connections, and then there's something about a suede shoe.

It's a good movie, and definitely a movie that's all Brad Pitt.

6 Stars

This movie really comes out of nowhere, and stays fresh and intriguing from the first shot to the last. I couldn't stop smiling for a moment, it was so wonderfully weird!

The story centers around a pair of snazzy shoes, that are found by Pitt's character Johnny, then change his entire life. There isn't a great deal of plot, which is fine, because the story is driven by the bizarre people in Johnny's life, and the way in which he reacts to them.

The best thing about "Johnny Suede" is that you really don't know what people are going to say or do next. The most 'normal' person in the story is Keener's character, who is strange just for liking Johnny so much.

The photography and sound is fairly minimal, due to budget, but in a way, it really adds to the ambience of nothingness in Johnny's life. The directing of actors is really first-rate, and the script is a gem. Oh, and the hair is a must-see.

If you're in the market for something out of left-field, then this hits the spot!

Tom Dicillo, after Living in Oblivion and Box of Moonlight, has proved himself to be one of the best writers and directors in the business. This, his feature film debut as director, is a nice tale which is solid entertainment but not as good as his later films.

Brad Pitt looks a bit too pretty throughout the film (watch Living in Oblivion, the James LeGros character is a parody of Pitt) but there is a good supporting cast, and the film has some very good moments. Definitely worth watching. 7 out of 10

Johnny Suede is like underground-filmmaking lite. It comes almost around the end of that era of New York City filmmaking that started many years before with more radical types like Andy Warhol and Jack Smith, and continued on with Jim Jarmusch (whom director Tom DiCillo worked for at one time), Betty Gordon and the guys that made New York Beat Movie. It's something about the beat of the street that DiCillo is interested in, at least in some part. But at the same time his lead figure is played by Brad Pitt, and it's like the slightly dim-witted rockabilly version of Henry from Eraserhead. It's nowhere near as bizarro as that, but DiCillo does try to be sure. He even has his intrepid would-be lady's man walking around a downtown NYC that looks as run-down as could be at the time, right before the city got a little more gentrified. It's a place with oddball rock n' rollers and street bums, midgets and painters, and oddball types of other varieties.

If it isn't entirely great it's because the film inhabits a strange region where it's not entirely underground, and could never be something mainstream despite its young star (who had just finished being female eye-candy in Thelma & Louise). Pitt is very good in the role though, taking up a character who isn't quite as stupid as he looks, but not intelligent enough to live in the "real" world. He's more into being a kind of hunky rockabilly guy, Ricky Nelson his idol, his huge pompadour the envy of anyone except for Nick Cave's character Freak Storm, also with an impressive head of hair. Like a real 'indie' movie there isn't too much of a plot: Suede gets a pair of shoes that kind of define him, tries to make a band that doesn't work out, paints to make ends meet, falls in love with one girl who dumps him for another and dates another (Catherine Keener) whom loves him dearly but who he treats badly.

What we have then is a movie without much of a story, and without much of a character that is iconic in ways that these indie films need to be. So why praise it so? Because of DiCillo's vision, and because Pitt does give the character what he needs as far as being real and raw enough to be taken seriously. He's a lunkhead, but not a bad person, kind of innocent and at his most vulnerable like a little puppy who needs help finding a woman's privates. It's a heady mix of grungy romance and some delirious dreams, some more touching than others. It could even be considered like a more "conventional" cousin to Eraserhead, where dreams and reality sometimes are indistinguishable to its protagonist, and whose direction in love and life is uncertain. If it's a little too light in the loafers to be fully embraced it may be expected as a first feature.

It's a fine jumping-off pad artistically for both its director (later to do the great Living in Oblivion) and of course its star, not to mention a very beautiful Catherine Keener and a perfectly weird Nick Cave.

This is one of the very early films in which Catherine Keener appears, and if you are among her growing population of admirers, this film is amust see. Keener has never been better, except maybe in "Living in Oblivion". Aside from that, this film is about as forgettable as an offbeat film can be. Annoying at times, there are some bright spots in this film that make it worthwhile as a whole.