"Johnny Dangerously" and me
I recently found a really great buy; in the bargain DVD bin at Wal-mart, there, amid the detritis of B-movies and such, I found one of my favorite films from the 80s: "Johnny Dangerously". For $5.50!
I loved this movie from the first time I saw it. For those of you who've never seen it, if you don't like movies that are "supposed" to be silly and stupid (al la "Airplane I and II", "Naked Gun", "Hot Shots", etc.), you won't like this one. My wife hated it.
The movie stars Michael Keaton as Johnny Kelly, a nice guy who loves his Irish-born mom (Maureen Stapleton) and baby brother Tommy.
When Johnny is a kid, working as a newsboy in turn-of the-century New York's Lower East Side, he's approached by a local mobster, Jocko Dundee (Peter Boyle) who offers to pay him a fifty for helping him out with something.
Unwilling to break his mother's heart by breaking the law, Johnny refuses, but is convinced to assist Dundee when he learns that his mom needs and operation that will cost $49.95. So, Johnny Kelly is lured into the world of crime; when told that he lives dangerously, and then asked his name, he replies "Johnny---Johnny...Dangerously."
Every time Johnny tries to quit the business and go straight, he's pulled back in by another ridiculous failing of his mother's health.
His mother and brother have no idea that Johnny Kelly and the renowned gangster Johnny Dangerously are one in the same, and Johnny helps his family and puts his brother through law school, only to have him become assistant DA upon his graduation. Tommy then proceeds to put Johnny Dangerously behind bars.
The movie also stars Joe Piscopo as slimy villain Danny Vermin, Danny Devito as the corrupt DA, and Marilu Henner as Lil, Johnny's love interest. Also seen are Dick Butkus and Alan Hale Jr. ("Skipper" from "Gilligan's Island").
From the opening sequence, when "1935" fades onto the screen, only to be smashed by a passing car, to the part where Johnny, on the way to the electric chair, and escorted by a fellow gangster disguised as a priest (the man can't read Latin, so he fakes it by using Latin terms or saying things that sound like Latin: "Imissdabus...youumissdabus....whenzanexbus?" "Post-meridian, Anti-Meridian, Uncle Meridian...all the little Meridians." "Summa cum laude...Magna cum laude...theradio'stooludie..." I love that. The language used by Jocko Dundee's rival(seen in the title of this article), Roman Moronie, is a riot (he reminds me a little of dabe, heh-heh).
It's all so silly that it's great. There's a lot of sex-related comedy, common for this type of film in the 80s, but it's nothing too outrageous.
If you've never seen it, I recommend it completely. Especially if you can find it in the bargain bin. Enjoy.