Johnny Dangerously (1984)

Michael Keaton stars alongside heavyweight comedic actors like Marilu Henner, Joe Piscopo, Maureen Stapleton, and Peter Boyle in this send-up of gangster pictures. It is a really well-written satire that works on many different levels. The film was helmed by Amy Heckerling, the Director who brought us Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It features four Writers who all have backgrounds in television sitcoms, and that experience translates pretty well into the film's slapstick comedy. The film was released on December 21, 1984. Despite a terrific cast and great comedic elements, it flopped at the box office. However, Keaton’s run as a comedy act was far from over.

The film is set in the 1930s and focuses on the young Johnny Kelly, a good-hearted kid who sells newspapers on the street corner and is stereotypical for the period. His mother is sick and has a multitude of ailments he cannot afford to treat. Through a series of events, Johnny finds himself accepting a job from a kind-hearted Mafia Boss who takes a shine to the youngster. Adopting the name Johnny Dangerously, he moves up the ranks of organized crime quickly and in no time becomes the Acting Boss of his criminal family. Complications arise when Johnny’s own brother, who doesn’t know he is a Gangster, becomes a hard-nosed District Attorney who goes to war with the Mafia. How is this all going to come to a head?

The jokes are rapid-fire and keep coming at a steady pace, so it is consistent if nothing else. The humor is a light absurdist type that is sure to get chuckles out of even the younger viewers. There were more than a few scenes that made me laugh. Everything with Richard Dimitri as Moroni is gold and highly memorable. There is a courtroom scene that stands out and circulates on streaming sites. It is iconic. Dimitri knocked it out of the park. But so did Maureen Stapleton as Dangerously’s sick mom, whose ailments keep getting more and more bizarre and expensive. I loved Danny DeVito’s cameo here as the corrupt District Attorney who is working with Piscopo’s Danny Vermin character.

So it is hilarious. No doubt there. But something just seems to keep it from being brought up in casual conversation about 1980s comedy movies. It blows my mind that so many film fans, even fans of Michael Keaton, do not know about this picture. However, I think a lot of the bitterness, if I can even call it that, and all of the less attractive parts of the movie stem from the setting. The 1930s setting is really bland and boring. And what is worse, aside from the Weird Al Yankovic theme song (yes, it has a Weird Al song as the theme, and it is funny), Heckerling seems to have opted for a more generic soundtrack rather than using actual period-appropriate tunes. It was too clean and too vanilla. I could have also used a bit more bite to this comedy. It just didn't go far enough. There is this feeling like the movie is teetering between being a PG-rated family film and an adult comedy, but it just cannot figure out what it wants to do.

It’s not as raunchy as Scary Movie but it definitely should be landing in the same conversations as Airplane! and Hot Shots. It's just dumb fun comedy that is easy to recommend. RottenPop can safely give this one three and a half stars. It’s funny, it’s going to make you laugh, it’s a great date movie or family night film but it’s not going to win any awards and it’s not something you have to stop everything to watch. If you are a fan of cartoonish humor then check it out.

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Johnny Dangerously
December 21st 1984
Amy Heckerling | Various Writers
Michael Keaton, Marilu Henner, Joe Piscopo, Maureen Stapleton, and Peter Boyle
★★★½