Johnny Dangerously

One of the first of the gangster spoof movies this is the story of Michael Keaton's Johnny Kelly sucked into Peter Boyle's New York gang before eventually leading it. This is confused by the fact that Johnny's brother (Griffin Dunne) is the DA seeking to put New York's crime lords away.

The film is silly from start to finish - the plot doesn't make sense and the characters are overblown, but that's the whole point - it's meant to be a spoof and it is. The jokes are quite hit-and-miss, but the majority hit and are funny, although you do need to be in the mood for it.

Michael Keaton is perfect in the lead role, clearly enjoying himself immensely and is on-form for the whole movie. The whole cast provide good support in a series of fun roles - Griffin Dunne is great as the DA, Danny DeVito top in a small role as the crooked DA (or host of game show "play ball"!). Richard Dimitri is hilarious as the gangster of unknown origin, guilty of murdering the english language (fargin' funny!), Peter Boyle is good as Johnny's boss, but Joe Piscopo is the best support as the gangster with attitude ("once").

The film is a fun throwback spoof. Every element of the film is exaggerated and the majority of it comes off well. Yes some jokes miss but they come so thick and fast that the next one is never far away.

Hilarious, under rated gangster spoof about an essentially good hearted boy who grows up to be Johnny Dangerously (Michael Keaton), AKA: John Shannon, who uses his ill gotten gains to support his family - his ailing mom and send his little brother to law school, of all places. Things get sticky though when an old foe (Joe Piscapoe) comes after Johnny and his girlfriend (Marilu Henner) and Johnny's own brother tries to come after him as part of his mission to clean up the city.

Lots of great gags, like Johnny advising kids to chew gum instead of smoking, Johnny's jail house striped suit, the running gag of Joe Piscapoe's character saying that certain members of his family did something to him "once... ONCE.", the running gag of Johnny's brother being unable to resist the temptation of sex, and of course, the fireworks that go off whenever Johnny gets laid.

Set in the 1930s, an honest, goodhearted man (Michael Keaton) is forced to turn to a life of crime to finance his neurotic mother's skyrocketing medical bills.

This was Amy Heckerling's follow-up to "Fast Times at Ridgmont High", and probably not the hard-hitting film people expected out of her. But too bad, because this is gem in its own right. Some have called the humor hit and miss (and that is not completely unfair), but the hits are particularly good. Keaton's Cagney impression is great.

Michael Keaton in general was strong throughout the 1980s, and hopefully with his Oscar boost ("Birdman") people will start to re-appreciate his career. Lots of winners in there, and "Johnny Dangerously" is one of them.

For a movie that gets no respect there sure are a lot of memorable quotes listed for this gem. Imagine a movie where Joe Piscopo is actually funny! Maureen Stapleton is a scene stealer. The Moroni character is an absolute scream. Watch for Alan "The Skipper" Hale jr. as a police Sgt.

One the whole, this movie isn't perfect. It doesn't 'hang well' together as the story line is basically a bunch of hooks to hang jokes.

Some of these jokes are a little 'too 80s' and tend to date the picture.

But some of these jokes are classic.

You know a movie has something special when you and your friends still reference silly quotes from it over 2 decades later.

Plus, there are a bunch of familiar faces; Michael Keaton, Danny Devito, Joe Piscapo, Peter Boyle, Marilu Henner, Maureen Stapleton, Bob Eubanks, Griffin Dunne, and one of the last roles of Alan Hale Jr., the Skipper from Gilligan's Island.

Also, there are some great absurdist moments, like when Johnny is labelling the puppies with a pricing gun, or the Pope making an appearance in Johnny's neighborhood. Also, the scene where the fake priest makes up a lot of words in Latin is excellent. ("Summa cum laude, magna cum laude, the radio's too louda... Post meridian, ante meridian, uncle meridian").

Other Classic Scenes include Ramone Maroney butchering the English language Danny Devito urging Griffin Dunne to 'Play Ball' Peter Boyle thinking he lost his manhood The fake VD movie

This movie is no home run. But like 'Porky's', it has enough classic comedy bits to make it memorable.