Have you ever seen The St. Valentine’s Day Massacare, or Bonnie and Clyde? What do those two movies have in common? There both films set in 1920s / 1930s gangster era. With a genre so rich and so full, it was only a matter of time before it had to get spoofed, and that happened in 1984 with Johnny Dangerously. What makes this film rare is that not only is it a screwball comedy spoof genre film, it’s that it was directed by a woman (which even today it seems like there are not enough women movie directors) Amy Heckerling who has also directed such comedy hits as Fast Times as Ridgemont High and Look Who’s Talking. A side from who directed it, how does the spoof itself hold up. The answer pretty well even if there are a few dated 1984 references like break dancing. The cast is top notch with Michael Keaton who the year before did Mr. Mom as the star of the film, playing what could be described as your freindly neighborhood gangster, one that shares the wealth or breaks the fourth wall to deliver an anti smoking PSA. Other co-stars such as Peter Boyle and Joe Piscpo round out a comedy all star cast. While this film seems almost forgotten since The Naked Gun and Hot Shots rule the spoof genre. Johnny Danerously did it first and like how it takes its cues from Airplane! it’s a sold entertainer.
Johnny Dangerously Trailer (Twentieth Century Fox/1984)
On a scale of 1.0 to 5.9 it got a 5.3 out of 5.9
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