Johnny, o Gângster

The jokes are obvious, the gags are corny, and the characters are walking characatures - but I couldn't stop from laughing at his highly entertaining movie. No matter how many times I see it, I still get a kick out of this one, and I recommend it highly for all lovers of mindless entertainment. It contains many quotable moments, and some of the best sight-gags I've seen to this day. If you've had a bad week and you need a chuckle, rent this one on your way home Friday night to give your weekend a good start.

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.

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.

"Johnny Dangerously" is one of those movies that exists for the sole purpose of being silly, much like "Airplane!". Michael Keaton plays Johnny Kelly, who once became a gangster under the name Johnny Dangerously, to pay his mother's (Maureen Stapleton) bills. His nemesis is Danny Vermin (Joe Piscopo). After a series of mix-ups, Johnny's brother Tommy (Griffin Dunne) becomes a marked man.

That's the plot, but you don't even need to pay attention to the plot. The whole movie is an excuse for a bunch of goofy occurrences, such as when the year is shown in the opening scene, and a car runs over the numbers, or when someone lights a cigarette and Johnny turns to the camera and reminds the children in the audience never to start smoking. My favorite character was Roman Moronie, just because of how he tried to curse and ended up saying things like "fargin' iceholes". Oh, and Alan Hale appears in one of his non-Skipper roles. In my opinion, one of the neatest lines was, after Lil (Marilu Henner) hears Johnny's name, she says: "I've never met a man whose last name was an adverb."

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.