I give “Johnny Suede” credit for being original, and unusual and surreal. Hell, if David Lynch made a musical comedy, I think this film would be it. But what’s the ultimate caveats that drag the film down into pure horrid depths? Tedium and acting. This story of a perpetually naïve young man who can’t quite understand how delusional he is in his pipe dream of becoming a huge star would have been better served had we been given a better leading man, but alas Pitt once again convinces me that he’s just not a good actor. Granted, it’s an early role, but Pitt could never convince me he’s a solid performer aside from his brief stint in “Snatch.”
The Irish musical “Once” by John Carney is very much of a gentle and quaint little elegy of life and love much like the subtle whisper that was “Me You and Everyone We Know.” Going in and out of theaters with barely a notice, it’s a shocker something so powerful as “Once” could go almost completely unnoticed. It’s just a painful crime that something as beautiful and utterly riveting as Carney’s “Once” could just completely be dismissed as another indie drama when really it’s a truly powerful musical.