TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

RainDogJr It's been quite a while since filmmaker Tom DiCillo came to my radar. Once his LIVING IN OBLIVION was a must-wanted for me, and the searching for it was damn worthy. I remember being better informed of everything DiCillo when the Anchor Bay DVD of his debut film JOHNNY SUEDE was released than today. It wasn't available in my city and then as time went by I lost track of DiCillo. A couple of years ago his documentary about one of my all-time favorite bands, the Doors, wasn't a blast for me, actually I began to think again in his first one only until recently and it was thanks to Brad Pitt. I'm not one of those who watched -or will watch- this film just because of the appearance of a young Brad Pitt, as the title character. But definitely the recent buzz for Pitt and his Oscar nomination made me ran across an article dealing with Pitt's evolution as an actor, or something like that, and also some really nice drawings of many of his characters, including Johnny Suede. So I realized I still had a pending encounter with DiCillo's debut film; and unlike four years I have now an ebay account so the DVD came in my mail some weeks ago. After watching this film I read about filmmaker Jim Jarmusch's involvement in it. According to wikipedia, Jarmusch's involvement wasn't anything more than giving to his good friend DiCillo positive feedback on the fourth draft of it. With this, JOHNNY SUEDE sort of reminded me Jarmusch's very own first feature PERMANENT VACACTION. And not just because DiCillo himself was the cinematographer of that film, but also because my approach to both debut films is quite similar. Both are strange films and not fully successful. I have seen only once PERMANENT VACATION; that happened years ago and I don't really plan to revisit it soon. I'm pretty sure the same will happen with JOHNNY SUEDE. Still I must say this is much less of an "experimental" kind of film than Jarmusch's. It's a more accessible vehicle, but nevertheless there is some really strange stuff going on here; the actual tone of the film is quite strange, just like the hair of Johnny Suede and that character played by Nick Cave – having a musician like Cave acting here is certainly pretty darn cool (just like having original music by Link Wray) and it also makes me think in Jarmusch, because of his collaborations with music legends like Tom Waits and Iggy Pop. It's a character film. One would think of this as a film about music; seeing Pitt in the DVD cover, for example, with his guitar and his pompadour hair can make you think that. For me it's really nice in that regard. The character Johnny Suede, a not-really-extremely-talented young guitar man who loves musicians like Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley (here I think again in Jarmusch, thanks to his MYSTERY TRAIN!), will be sort of appealing to anyone who wants to be a full-time musician. For Johnny many things interrupt his guitar playing, like finding money for the rent. The film is actually more about all of this than about music. Johnny's relationship with two different women has the most important role in the film to be more precise (Catherine Keener is here playing one of them). It was definitely good to finally check this one out even that, and just like its title character, sometimes is not quite likable. Pitt was a really nice choice for this role as he, like Johnny, was still very naïve. In the end, it's really not the best way to begin checking out DiCillo's bodywork, so if you don't really know this filmmaker I recommend you to begin with LIVING IN OBLIVION. *Watched it on March 04, 2012

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.

mattymatt4ever "Johnny Suede" is not a film for all tastes. Not because it's a very strange piece, but because it's not an example of that in-your-face cinema that many are accustomed to. This is Tom DiCillo's directorial debut. I saw one of his recent films, "The Real Blonde," and I found it to be very impressive. So I felt quite curious about checking out his early work. There's not even a hint of flashy direction, and it's obvious throughout that the makers of the film were running on a low budget, but I didn't worry about those things. Brad Pitt (before he became a household name) is great--and perfectly cast--in the lead role. Next to his role as Tyler Durden in "Fight Club" I would say this is one of the best performances of his career. I just felt, in every aspect, he was made to play this character. Even the pompadour looked perfect on him, and I couldn't imagine any other actor wearing it better. His character, Johnny Suede, is so utterly likable that you feel obligated to scurry along on his little journeys. Johnny is not the smartest guy on Earth, not the classiest either and certainly not the most successful. He lives a pretty simple life in a ratty apartment, listening to vintage records by rock and roll legends. He has dreams of becoming a rock and roll legend himself, and is the leader of a band. However, the band never quite takes off. None of that "I dream of becoming a rock and roll star and the next minute I'm staring at crowds of screaming fans chanting my name" garbage we see repeatedly on VH1 as one of the "Movies That Rock." This is the life of a real struggling artist, who does have talent and potential, but can't quite get off the ground. Well...not yet. His love life isn't all too successful, and that's what's hindering his ability to proceed in his daily endeavors. First he falls in love with a beautiful girl whose current boyfriend likes to beat her. He has every right to believe that the sparks are flying between them, but suddenly she just blurts out, "I don't love you, Johnny." Then he falls in love with Catherine Keener. Things go well between them at first, but like in his previous relationships things also get shot to hell eventually. And we feel sorry for this poor guy. He may not be smooth or unusually charming, but that's the point. He's a nice, unpretentious average Joe who seeks true love and quite frankly he's doing everything in his power to make these relationships work. I've always admired Brad (A.K.A. Mr. Handsome), but I considered this performance especially unique. Though he's just as handsome as he was in "Legends of the Fall" and "Meet Joe Black," he's not on screen to portray his now-proclaimed status as the "Sexiest Man Alive." He just plays a normal guy, living a normal life and seeking a normal relationship. Though we may not all go for the "pompadour" look or listen to classic oldies on an old record player, we can all relate to his character in some sort of way. And speaking of music, I love that line where he says, "Real music has no time." When you listen to great songs by great artists like Bill Haley and the Comets or Ricky Nelson, you don't think about what time period they came from because they're timeless. At first, I thought this movie might've been set in the 1950's, but in all actuality it just involves a man who happens to be fascinated by the trends of the 50's, and I'm down with that. Don't expect a plot, because this is strictly a character-driven effort. And with a strong central character like Johnny Suede, I felt amazingly captivated and had an unspeakable urge to keep on watching. I guess you can call it a slice-of-life comedy-drama. I highly suggest people check out this overlooked gem. You'll laugh. You'll have fun. You'll have a good ol' time. My score: 7 (out of 10)

hipcheck This movie really comes out of nowhere, and stays fresh and intriguing from the first shot to the last. I couldn't stop smiling for a moment, it was so wonderfully weird!The story centers around a pair of snazzy shoes, that are found by Pitt's character Johnny, then change his entire life. There isn't a great deal of plot, which is fine, because the story is driven by the bizarre people in Johnny's life, and the way in which he reacts to them.The best thing about "Johnny Suede" is that you really don't know what people are going to say or do next. The most 'normal' person in the story is Keener's character, who is strange just for liking Johnny so much.The photography and sound is fairly minimal, due to budget, but in a way, it really adds to the ambience of nothingness in Johnny's life. The directing of actors is really first-rate, and the script is a gem. Oh, and the hair is a must-see.If you're in the market for something out of left-field, then this hits the spot!