Johnny Suede

Several years before his roles as the leader of a fight club, a backwards-aging man, and a Nazi-slaughtering redneck, Brad Pitt played the title role in Tom DiCillo's "Johnny Suede". Johnny is man on skid row with ambitions to be the next Ricky Nelson. He already has a band, and even starts up a relationship with young Darlette (Alison Moir). But as his music career goes nowhere, she leaves him. Upon meeting the offbeat Yvonne (Catherine Keener), Johnny starts to wonder if maybe there's more to life than trying to be a rock star.

I didn't find this movie to be any sort of masterpiece, but I still thought that it was worth seeing. More than just an early vehicle for Pitt - sporting an absurdly large pompadour - and Keener, it shows Johnny's eventually having to recognize reality, especially given the world that he inhabits (the movie doesn't present a flattering look at Brooklyn).

There are also two supporting cast members playing roles totally the opposite of their most famous ones. Tina Louise, far removed from Ginger Grant, plays Darlette's manipulative mother. Samuel L. Jackson plays one of the band members. Ginger Grant co-starred with the guy who said "mother---king snakes on a mother---king plane" (although they don't share any scenes).

Anyway, I recommend "Johnny Suede". A look at lost dreams - much of the movie is in fact made to look dreamlike, probably stressing the contrast between Johnny's fantasies and reality - along with some very surprising stuff. Nick Cave appears as another man with a crazy hairdo. Tom DiCillo later directed "Living in Oblivion", starring Steve Buscemi as a man going through hell trying to make a movie.

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

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.

"Johnny Suede" is not a film for all tastes. Not because it's a very strange piece, but because it's not an example of that in-your-face cinema that many are accustomed to. This is Tom DiCillo's directorial debut. I saw one of his recent films, "The Real Blonde," and I found it to be very impressive. So I felt quite curious about checking out his early work. There's not even a hint of flashy direction, and it's obvious throughout that the makers of the film were running on a low budget, but I didn't worry about those things.

Brad Pitt (before he became a household name) is great--and perfectly cast--in the lead role. Next to his role as Tyler Durden in "Fight Club" I would say this is one of the best performances of his career. I just felt, in every aspect, he was made to play this character. Even the pompadour looked perfect on him, and I couldn't imagine any other actor wearing it better. His character, Johnny Suede, is so utterly likable that you feel obligated to scurry along on his little journeys. Johnny is not the smartest guy on Earth, not the classiest either and certainly not the most successful. He lives a pretty simple life in a ratty apartment, listening to vintage records by rock and roll legends. He has dreams of becoming a rock and roll legend himself, and is the leader of a band. However, the band never quite takes off. None of that "I dream of becoming a rock and roll star and the next minute I'm staring at crowds of screaming fans chanting my name" garbage we see repeatedly on VH1 as one of the "Movies That Rock." This is the life of a real struggling artist, who does have talent and potential, but can't quite get off the ground. Well...not yet. His love life isn't all too successful, and that's what's hindering his ability to proceed in his daily endeavors. First he falls in love with a beautiful girl whose current boyfriend likes to beat her. He has every right to believe that the sparks are flying between them, but suddenly she just blurts out, "I don't love you, Johnny." Then he falls in love with Catherine Keener. Things go well between them at first, but like in his previous relationships things also get shot to hell eventually. And we feel sorry for this poor guy. He may not be smooth or unusually charming, but that's the point. He's a nice, unpretentious average Joe who seeks true love and quite frankly he's doing everything in his power to make these relationships work. I've always admired Brad (A.K.A. Mr. Handsome), but I considered this performance especially unique. Though he's just as handsome as he was in "Legends of the Fall" and "Meet Joe Black," he's not on screen to portray his now-proclaimed status as the "Sexiest Man Alive." He just plays a normal guy, living a normal life and seeking a normal relationship. Though we may not all go for the "pompadour" look or listen to classic oldies on an old record player, we can all relate to his character in some sort of way. And speaking of music, I love that line where he says, "Real music has no time." When you listen to great songs by great artists like Bill Haley and the Comets or Ricky Nelson, you don't think about what time period they came from because they're timeless. At first, I thought this movie might've been set in the 1950's, but in all actuality it just involves a man who happens to be fascinated by the trends of the 50's, and I'm down with that.

Don't expect a plot, because this is strictly a character-driven effort. And with a strong central character like Johnny Suede, I felt amazingly captivated and had an unspeakable urge to keep on watching. I guess you can call it a slice-of-life comedy-drama. I highly suggest people check out this overlooked gem. You'll laugh. You'll have fun. You'll have a good ol' time.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

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!