"Even Midnight Cowboys Have Sunshine Dreams"
One of the dour running jokes in ''Johns,'' Scott Silver's fine, tough-minded study of Los Angeles street hustlers, is that many of the characters who cruise Santa Monica Boulevard buying and selling young male flesh happen to be named John. (One buyer is even named John Wayne.) Added to the fact that men who patronize prostitutes are traditionally known as ''johns,'' the joke takes on an extra wrinkle of jaundiced humor.
But the only John who really matters in this gritty portrait of desperate, dead-end lives is a wiry hustler with a tattooed teardrop under one squinty eye. As the film opens, this John, played by David Arquette with a taut, understated ferocity that is absolutely on target, has his grimy sneakers plucked off his feet along with $140 in life savings while he is sleeping in a park. It is 7 A.M. on Christmas Eve, and Los Angeles is in the middle of a heat wave. As John dashes barefoot down the boulevard, he collides with a wilted-looked street Santa and impulsively makes off with his red-and-white stocking hat.
Not only is tomorrow Christmas, it is also John's 21st birthday. As a present to himself, he has booked a room at a fancy hotel where he plans to spend 24 hours living like a rich person, ''eating burgers and watching cable TV.'' But the theft puts a damper on his plans. For much of the rest of the film, John and his worshipful sidekick and boarding-house roommate, Donner (Lukas Haas), try to raise the money for John to live out his king-for-a-day fantasy.
Although it's easy to predict where the film is headed, ''Johns'' reaches its tragic destination with few missteps. The two friends suggest a post-teen-age 90's version of Ratso Rizzo and Joe Buck from ''Midnight Cowboy,'' with John playing professional mentor to Donner, who has been working the streets for only seven weeks. Donner explains that he was thrown out of the house by his father after announcing that he was gay. Mr. Haas brings to the role an appropriately coarsened variation on the moist, doe-eyed boy-ingenue that has been his movie stock-in-trade for more than a decade.
Donner: "I am not a prostitute. I am an entertainer"Donner is none too bright. In picking up customers, Donner has no instinct for how to apply John's instructions to the situation.
When a phone call from Donner to his mother results in job opportunities for the two friends as lifeguards at a theme park in Missouri, the fact that neither can swim hardly seems an obstacle. They immediately make plans to take a bus east, where Donner envisions the two of them lolling around the pool sipping pina coladas.
''Johns,'' like ''Midnight Cowboys,'' explores the theme of friendship in a dog-eat-dog environment. Donner, who may or may not be in love with his mentor, offers unstinting devotion to John, who gruffly insists that friendship among hustlers is impossible. In the story's nastiest twist, one that feels dramatically forced, Donner's concern for John has unexpectedly disastrous consequences.
The movie abounds with sharply drawn peripheral characters. There is Jimmy the Warlock (Terrence Dashon Howard), a self-professed Buddhist who brutally prosecutes street justice for an unseen drug kingpin, and there is Nikki (Alanna Ubach), John's foulmouthed speed-rapping sweetheart who is a hyperagitated nightmare. Then there are the various johns, most prominently Elliott Gould in the role of a lecherous married man who foolishly welcomes John into his luxurious home for a quickie while his wife is out Christmas shopping.
The film embellishes the story with a overlay of Christmas symbolism. The movie insists on making John a full-fledged Christ symbol, ringed with angelic choruses of ''Silent Night.'' ''Johns'' doesn't need Jesus; it doesn't even need Christmas to makes its grim, tawdry little tale hit home.
~ Stephen Holden-NYT
Film Information: 'Johns'
Web: Cast, Bios and Additional Details at IMDb
Director: Scott Silver
Writer: Scott Silver
Cast, Crew & Credits: Full Cast, Crew & Credits
Genre: Drama
Awards: 1 win
Runtime: 96 min
Spoken Language: English
Film File Download: 'Johns'
| Method 1.) File Self Extraction. (For PC) Download files into the same folder. then click on the 'xxxx.part01.exe' file and the film will self extract. (For Mac) You will need a Command Line Archiver like Rar for Mac OS X' |
| Johns.part01.exe | Johns.part02.rar |
| Johns.part03.rar | Johns.part04.rar |
| Johns.part05.rar | Johns.part06.rar |
| Johns.part07.rar | Johns.part08.rar |
| Johns.part09.rar | Johns.part10.rar |
| Johns.part11.rar | Johns.part12.rar |
'Johns'
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Selections
(featuring blues great Charles Brown)
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