Where to watch Johnny Handsome online

Storyline

A career criminal who has been deformed since birth is given a new face by a kindly doctor and paroled from prison. It appears that he has gone straight, but he is really planning his revenge on the man who killed his mentor and sent him to prison.

Released

1989-09-12
Revenue

$7,237,794
Budget

$20,000,000
Runtime

1hr 34m
Genre

Crime, Drama
Status

Released
Language

English
6.1
Production

Guber/Peters Company, Roven Productions, Carolco Pictures

Crew

Walter Hill

Director

Ken Friedman

Screenplay

Charles Roven

Producer

Keywords:

prison mask individual operation robbery restart ex-detainee new orleans, louisiana new identity ugliness plastic surgery

Stream and watch Johnny Handsome

similar movies

Mean Machine

The Free Will

Mona Lisa

Wild Seven

Money Talks

Buffalo '66

Margarete Steiff

He Got Game

Glengarry Glen Ross

Chopper

Dobermann

Hunger

Plunkett & MacLeane

The Limey

Gangster No. 1

Double Jeopardy

The Hurricane

Gods of the Plague

Animal

U Turn

Cast

Mickey Rourke

Johnny Handsome

Ellen Barkin

Sunny Boyd

Morgan Freeman

Lt. A.Z. Drones

Forest Whitaker

Dr. Steven Fisher

Elizabeth McGovern

Donna McCarty

Lance Henriksen

Rafe Garrett

Scott Wilson

Mikey Chalmette

David Schramm

Vic Dumask

Peter Jason

Mr. Bonet

Yvonne Bryceland

Sister Luke

Jeffrey Meek

Earl

J.W. Smith

Larry

Allan Graf

Bob Lemoyne

Edward Walsh

Judge

Eugenia Ives

Nurse

Blake Clark

Sheriff Monte

Ken Medlock

Shipyard Accountant

Ed Zang

Prestige Manager

John P. Fertitta

Prestige Salesman

Raynor Scheine

Gun Dealer

Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for Johnny Handsome

A Review by John Chard 7

Written by John Chard on 2014-03-31

Walter Hill's undervalued neo-noir. Johnny Handsome is directed by Walter Hill and adapted to screenplay by Ken Friedman from the novel "... read more

Walter Hill's undervalued neo-noir. Johnny Handsome is directed by Walter Hill and adapted to screenplay by Ken Friedman from the novel "The Three Worlds of Johnny Handsome" written by John Godey. It stars Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern, Lance Henriksen, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman and Scott Wilson. Music is by Ry Cooder and cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti. John Sedley (Rourke), AKA: Johnny Handsome, has a severely disfigured face, when he and his only real friend are double-crossed by two accomplices during a robbery, Johnny is sent to prison and his life reaches a new low. However, hope springs in the form of Dr. Steven Fisher (Whitaker), a pioneering plastic surgeon who offers to give Johnny surgery that would give him a normal face as he attempts to integrate back into society. With a new face making him unrecognisable, there is scope to enact revenge on the two people who killed his best friend and had him put in prison... Walter Hill knows his film noir, anyone who has seen The Driver knows this. Here for Johnny Handsome, Hill takes a lot of the fantastical elements of noir and dresses it up admirably as a violent revenge thriller. A box office flop and something of a kicking post for big hitting critics of the late 1980s, it's a film that now can be seen as being very much in tune with its influences. The charges of it being too bonkers, too violent and too much of a "B" movie homage just don't add up, because what is on offer is good solid meaty neo-noir cinema. A protagonist with an affliction, medical shenanigans, hyper femme fatale, over the top villain and a stoic and sarcastic gumshoe type copper. All of which operate in a sweaty and luridly coloured New Orleans. Add in Hill's eye for aggressive action sequences and it's neo a go-go. Hill gets strong performances from his cast, ensuring emotional bonds are not over egged and a clamour for sympathy and understanding kept to a bearable level by the actors playing the "good" guys "n" dolls. While giving Henriksen and Barkin licence to sizzle with sinister glee is astute and perfectly in tune with the material on the page. Leonetti's photography has the requisite pulpy noirishness to it, and the familiar twangs of Ry Cooder are never a bad thing in a Walter Hill movie. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but those complaining about missed opportunities regarding rehabilitation - or that the liberal doctor turns out to be clinically wrong in his reform beliefs - really are missing the point or unaware of the world where something like Johnny Handsome lives. From the kinetic misery at film's start, to the "ever so in tune with film noir" finale, Johnny Handsome is well worth a look by anyone interested in noir's updated version. 7/10