SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Billy Lee Harman This film is two movies, its scenes including Catherine Keener, and its scenes excluding her. The link is the iguana, now a symbol of Eisenstein's dialectical idealism montage theory of cinematic art, indicating Keener's pseudo-intellectual influence on this cinematic production. Soviet Cinematographer Sergei Eisenstein responded to the Soviets' perverting Hegel's "phenomenology of mind" into what they called dialectical materialism by calling his Zen koan approach to cinema dialectical idealism. And, since then, emulating his use of discordant montage has been a right of passage for cinematographers and directors. But Keener's dialectic detracts from the iguana's. HITRT

MisterWhiplash Johnny Suede is like underground-filmmaking lite. It comes almost around the end of that era of New York City filmmaking that started many years before with more radical types like Andy Warhol and Jack Smith, and continued on with Jim Jarmusch (whom director Tom DiCillo worked for at one time), Betty Gordon and the guys that made New York Beat Movie. It's something about the beat of the street that DiCillo is interested in, at least in some part. But at the same time his lead figure is played by Brad Pitt, and it's like the slightly dim-witted rockabilly version of Henry from Eraserhead. It's nowhere near as bizarro as that, but DiCillo does try to be sure. He even has his intrepid would-be lady's man walking around a downtown NYC that looks as run-down as could be at the time, right before the city got a little more gentrified. It's a place with oddball rock n' rollers and street bums, midgets and painters, and oddball types of other varieties.If it isn't entirely great it's because the film inhabits a strange region where it's not entirely underground, and could never be something mainstream despite its young star (who had just finished being female eye-candy in Thelma & Louise). Pitt is very good in the role though, taking up a character who isn't quite as stupid as he looks, but not intelligent enough to live in the "real" world. He's more into being a kind of hunky rockabilly guy, Ricky Nelson his idol, his huge pompadour the envy of anyone except for Nick Cave's character Freak Storm, also with an impressive head of hair. Like a real 'indie' movie there isn't too much of a plot: Suede gets a pair of shoes that kind of define him, tries to make a band that doesn't work out, paints to make ends meet, falls in love with one girl who dumps him for another and dates another (Catherine Keener) whom loves him dearly but who he treats badly. What we have then is a movie without much of a story, and without much of a character that is iconic in ways that these indie films need to be. So why praise it so? Because of DiCillo's vision, and because Pitt does give the character what he needs as far as being real and raw enough to be taken seriously. He's a lunkhead, but not a bad person, kind of innocent and at his most vulnerable like a little puppy who needs help finding a woman's privates. It's a heady mix of grungy romance and some delirious dreams, some more touching than others. It could even be considered like a more "conventional" cousin to Eraserhead, where dreams and reality sometimes are indistinguishable to its protagonist, and whose direction in love and life is uncertain. If it's a little too light in the loafers to be fully embraced it may be expected as a first feature. It's a fine jumping-off pad artistically for both its director (later to do the great Living in Oblivion) and of course its star, not to mention a very beautiful Catherine Keener and a perfectly weird Nick Cave.

Eels14 There is something about this movie that is enjoyable and from time to time a movie such as Johnny Suede can be more appealing than a smash hit at the box office.Movies that depict a certain character and their surroundings I find very appealing and even if there isn't much of a story you can still appreciate the idea of the director.Just like a number of other movies Johnny Suede is known for it's characters before they were famous - Brad Pitt, Samuel L Jackson and Catherine Keener. Brad Pitt delivered a great performance as a young and inspiring musician. Calvin Levels as Deke and Nick Cave added to Brad Pitt's character as people he met along the way in his journey and of course the girls he dated played by Catherine Keener and Alison Moir.Toward's the end of the movie you will be wondering where this is all heading and during the end credits you will probably still be wondering the same, but I guess that can only be answered by the director.Anyway, Johhny Suede I found enjoyable based on the story being unique and one of it's kind.

tomlindh This is absolutely the worst movie I've seen all year.First, I will say that the acting was very good, and by all of the cast.This was apparently meant to be very offbeat, and in that regard it succeeded. By the same token, the story revolves around a self-centered wannabe, who is a clueless, talentless chronic liar, whose source of self confidence comes from a pair of leather slippers.This was worse than watching a car wreck.