Welcome back to my blog. Here’s my recommendation of a movie to check out today and hope you punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” OK, it’s time again for me to recommend a horrible flick. Today, go with “Johnny Be Good” starring Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey Jr., Paul Gleason and Uma Thurman, who was in just her second film with this stinker.
In “Johnny Be Good,” Hall has matured since his “Weird Science” days and is a high school football star who’s the hottest prospect in the country. Of course, back in 1988 at the movie’s release, under-the-table payments and incentives were a regular feature of players being recruited to college programs.
Hall gets the full treatment from a variety of schools, including the one that offers to hire his high school coach if he attends their university.
However, “Johnny Be Good” is a terrible film with a few bright spots, including Downey as Hall’s sidekick with a twisted sense of humor and Gleason as the obnoxious, egotistical high school coach looking to cash in even more than Hall is seeking from potential university suitors.
The film is only watchable because of a few decent scenes, but otherwise has no more appeal than a morbid fascination more associated with looking at the aftermath of a car crash as you drive past on the interstate.
One of “Johnny Be Good’s” best supporting efforts is from the recruiters for Alabama and Penn State. The two men bicker as if they’ve been married for 20 years and do better work as actors than much of the rest of the cast.
While Thurman is basically milquetoast in her character in “Johnny Be Good,” at least she’s not as cringeworthy as Jennifer Tilly, whose character is Gleason’s wife. Wow. What an abominable performance (with the only worse and more embarrassing effort being the cameo from former sports broadcast star Howard Cosell).
So, I say punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” and watch “Johnny Be Good.” It is available to stream as part of a subscription on several services as well as being available to rent on others. So, find it! Watch it! Don’t worry, you’ll thank me later (maybe, or maybe not) for “Johnny Be Good.”
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