Sonny (2002)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Fresh and Exciting

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

A Nicolas Cage movie, directed and produced, SONNY is stark, raw and straight-to-the-point. Fresh from his release from the Army, Sonny heads home to New Orleans with the intent of telling his mother Jewel(Brenda Blethyn)that he has no plans of returning to his former lifestyle. You see, Sonny's previous job was pleasing the ladies...a popular gigolo working for his mother, who taught him everything he knows. The job that his Army buddy(Scott Caan)falls through leaving Sonny to return to doing what he does well. Working for Jewel is a pretty young girl named Carol(Mena Suvari)that deep inside wants to leave the business and live like the "normal" people that marry and have a home with children. She tries to convince Sonny to join her and runaway from the seedy life in the Big Easy's underbelly. Some real strong images of sexual activity; boring...this movie is not. Also starring are: Harry Dean Stanton, Brenda Vaccaro, Seymour Cassel, Josie Davis and a Nic Cage cameo as Acid Yellow, a gay pimp. Some heavy tunes from Rush, Chicago, Devo and David Bowie.

i thought that Sonny was a very good movie. I wasn't expecting much whenever I rented the movie- i only rented it because i love James Franco. but the movie really did surprise and impress me.I loved James Franco in this. His acting was very good. I felt his pain, especially when I looked in his eyes. His eyes tell it all. The rest of the acting was also very good. Mena Suvari did an excellent job as well.I liked the story line behind it all and it was put together very well. I can imagine trying to change your life like he did, but failing. I know how hard it is to be rejected or put down, and in this movie, Sonny deals with it well for the most part i suppose. This is a movie that i would definitely recommend seeing, it has great actors, a good story line, and who can say no to seeing James almost naked body? :)

"I was fortunate enough to watch it on an import Region-1 DVD, and was struck by the non-judgmental approach and sensitivity of the director & cast dealing with such a rough story line."------I can explain this; I knew the writer of this film many years ago. This is essentially his own life story. Except I believe this movie takes place in New Orleans; in real life it was Galveston, Texas. I've read a number of his unproduced scripts and many of them deal with this same theme. God knows what would have happened to him if he hadn't become a writer. Interesting side bit about John Carlen. He was mentored by the late Edward Bunker, who was also a jailhouse writer but was perhaps best known for playing "Mr. Blue" in Reservoir Dogs. I guess Mr. Bunker was kind of a violent guy, because the two of them fell out and Carlen was so worried that Bunker was coming after him that he went into hiding.

Am baffled at the low ratings and poor reviews this film has gotten. Would this still have been the case if Nick Cage were not an A-List actor? I thought this film to be a phenomenal character piece that kept me gripped until the very end. James Franco once again shows his chops as one of the best actors of his generation. Perhaps the film was a little too real for many to take and showed a life of prositution that was not through Hollywood goggles (ie Pretty Woman). With the exception of Scott Caan, all the performances were stellar and the movie was a phenomenal debut for any first time director. I hope that you haters out there do not sway Mr. Cage away from his position behind the lens.