Nice Guy Johnny
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''Nice Guy Johnny'' is a 2010 American
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
written and directed by
Edward Burns Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor and filmmaker. He rose to fame with '' The Brothers McMullen'' (1995), his low-budget independent film that became successful worldwide. His other film appearances include '' ...
, and starring Matt Bush,
Kerry Bishé Kerry Bishé is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Donna Clark in the AMC period drama series '' Halt and Catch Fire'' (2014–2017) and Lucy Bennett, the lead/narrator in the final season of the ABC medical sitcom '' Scrubs'' ...
and Burns.


Plot

Johnny Rizzo, a young man who dreams of working in radio, is engaged to Claire. When Claire demands that he pursue a more realistic goal than following his dreams, Johnny's uncle Terry attempts to tempt him away from the relationship with a decadent party. Johnny resists his uncle's hedonistic lifestyle, but meets a free-spirited woman named Brooke, whom he quickly befriends. Alarmed by the direction Johnny's life is taking, Brooke encourages him to pursue his dreams and avoid selling out. When a misunderstanding causes Claire to incorrectly believe that Johnny has been cheating on her with Brooke, Johnny and Claire break up. Now free to pursue a romance, Johnny and Brooke begin dating.


Cast

* Matt Bush as Johnny Rizzo *
Kerry Bishé Kerry Bishé is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Donna Clark in the AMC period drama series '' Halt and Catch Fire'' (2014–2017) and Lucy Bennett, the lead/narrator in the final season of the ABC medical sitcom '' Scrubs'' ...
as Brooke *
Edward Burns Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor and filmmaker. He rose to fame with '' The Brothers McMullen'' (1995), his low-budget independent film that became successful worldwide. His other film appearances include '' ...
as Uncle Terry * Max Baker as Max * Anna Wood as Claire * Brian Delate as Frank * Marsha Dietlein as Nicole *
Jay Patterson Jay Patterson (born August 22, 1954) is an American actor. He has appeared in more than sixty films since 1984. Selected filmography Film Television Videogames References External links * 1954 births Living people American m ...
as Dr. Meadows * Michele Harris as Amy


Production

Burns based the film on his own experiences as an independent filmmaker when offered a choice between following his dreams and working for a major studio. After his previous film, '' Purple Violets'', did not perform as hoped, Burns took the opportunity to re-educate himself on screenwriting. He recalled, "I recognized after my film ''Purple Violets'' that I had gotten away from respecting traditional storytelling structure. I thought I knew it, but I stopped outlining and stopped thinking about audiences’ expectations. After that film I thought that I needed to go back and re-educate myself. So I went back and read a ton of books on Hollywood screenwriting and story structure. A lot of it I found very helpful and a lot of it I didn’t, but I know going back and having respect for structure helped me enormously as a screenwriter." Knowing that ''Nice Guy Johnny'' would be a micro-budget film (as were his following films, '' Newlyweds'' and '' The Fitzgerald Family Christmas''), while writing the script Burns concentrated on how he could keep the cost of the film down. " With all three of those movies I would write down the list of locations that I knew I could get for free. I knew I would be writing more daytime exterior scenes than nighttime scenes just because of the cost of lighting and how time consuming and difficult shooting at night is with a micro-budget. I also knew I would be writing away from any scenes that would require a lot of extras. With those parameters I wrote the scripts. It was a different discipline."


Soundtrack

The soundtrack is composed by PT Walkley. His song "Save The World" is featured in the film's
theatrical trailer A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction, or attraction video) is a short advertisement, originally designed for a feature film, which highlights key scenes of upcoming features intended to be exhibited in the future at a movie thea ...
.


Release

''Nice Guy Johnny'' was released on DVD in the United States on April 23, 2010.


Reception

Dan Heaton of
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
rated it 5/10 stars, and wrote: "This good-natured story needs more fiery drama and conflict to make its resolution inspiring." Jason Bailey of
DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
rated it 2/5 stars and praised Bishé's performance, but called the film "not terribly funny and not really dramatic". Patrick Bromley of
DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose revie ...
also wrote a mixed review while praising Bishé. Bromley concluded: "I wish I could speak more highly of ''Nice Guy Johnny'', but the audience for Burns' films seems to be shrinking thanks to outings like this one. It inspires mostly indifference."


References


External links

* * * {{Edward Burns 2010 films 2010s coming-of-age comedy films 2010 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American coming-of-age comedy films Films directed by Edward Burns 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language romantic comedy films