Mean Johnny Barrows (1975)

Pretty Good

Best movie of this year hands down!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Either I have been misinterpreting and misusing the word "mean" throughout my entire life, or this movie's title is completely misleading. Fred Williamson's title character, Johnny Barrows, is about everything but mean in this movie. He's dull, and incredibly indecisive citizen who remains frustratingly honorable even though life is repeatedly stabbing him in the back. Barrows is a decorated Vietnam veteran, but after his discharge from the army (for righteously punching a superior in the face) he quickly becomes homeless, unemployed and has to start digging for food in garbage bins. His mafia buddy Mario Racconi offers him a job as hit man numerous times, especially since a rival clan moved into their territory, but Johnny Barrows prefers to clean toilets at a gas station for $21 per month because that's an honest profession. Yeah right. Only one full hour and one dead godfather later, Johnny finally gets a bit mean and accepts the job to protect a woman who doesn't even fancy him. The film ends with the message: "this movie is dedicated to all veterans who traded the front line for the unemployment line". Oh, okay, so this is an attempt at social criticism? Let me assure you there are numerous of gritty and violent 70's movies out there dealing with re-integration issues of Vietnam veterans, and practically all of them are better than "Mean Johnny Barrows". This is just a boring Fred Williamson vehicle, his directorial debut by the way, with only a couple of notable moments in the last fifteen minutes. Roddy McDowell's role is hardly worth mentioning and Elliot Gould merely just makes a cameo.

Decent and valiant Vietnam war veteran Johnny Barrows (a credible and engaging performance by stunningly handsome and charismatic 70's blaxploitation icon Fred Williamson) gets dishonorably discharged after striking an antagonistic superior officer (a pleasingly nasty cameo by Aaron Banks). Barrows goes back to his hometown and winds up totally destitute after two muggers steal all his money. Worse yet, Barrows has great difficulty finding gainful employment. Crusty Mafia don Luther Adler and his suave son Stuart Whitman offer Barrows a gig as an enforcer, but he politely declines their offer. Instead Barrows takes a demeaning job working as a janitor at a gas station owned by an odious racist redneck jerk (expertly played by the great R.G. Armstrong). Barrows gets arrested by the cops after getting into an ugly fight with Armstrong over his paltry salary. Worse yet, Adler gets rubbed out and Whitman winds up in the hospital after both of them are gunned down by rival drug-dealing gangster Anthony Caruso and his two no-count sons Mike Henry (foul-mouthed hothead) and Roddy McDowall (effiminate toady). Whitman offers Barrows $100,000 dollars to bump off Caruso and his sons. Now what do think Johnny's going to do? Although severely marred by poky pacing, a stupefying surplus of tedious talk, a meandering narrative, and an often painfully conspicuous low budget, there's nonetheless a definite sincerity apparent here that's both strangely endearing and weirdly engrossing. Williamson's direction never transcends the merely competent, but he does show a fair amount of flair, a modicum of style, and, most importantly, a true sense of earnest ambition. The opening third is a very clunky chore to endure, but things fortunately pick up in the exciting third act and culminate in an extremely shocking surprise bummer ending which packs quite a punch. Moreover, the music is properly funky, the theme song is a groovy blast, there are a few sharp, snappy edits, and Robert Carimico's laudably polished cinematography makes artful use of fades, dissolves and super-impositions. Elliott Gould contributes an amusingly droll special appearance as a flaky philosophical homeless man who shows Barrows the ropes on how to scrape by as a bum. Jenny Sherman also impresses as Whitman's lovely and loyal girlfriend. The climactic martial arts fight between Banks and Williamson is an absolute hoot. Moral: Peace is hell. All in all, "Mean Johnny Barrows" rates as a pretty good, but flawed effort that's worth checking out if you're a Fred Williamson fan.

Fred Williamson is a charismatic actor but he shouldn't be allowed behind the camera for the simple reason that he has no clue as how to direct a film. I had heard that his earlier films were better than the direct-to-vid films he slapped together in the '80s but this film, made just as the blaxploitation craze was winding down, is beyond belief.I'd like to think that he had a crew of 5 people: 2 for sound, one high school student to do the lighting, an A.D., and himself...oh yeah, I guess he'd need a cameraman. Well maybe one of the actors handled that when they weren't needed in front of the camera. That might explain a lot. This is, technically, a truly horrible film: the sound, lighting, camera are all beyond amateur.What really takes the cake is the inclusion of good actors like Roddy McDowell, Elliot Gould (as one reviewer noted below -- this is the best scene and it makes no sense but is welcome anyway) and Stuart Whitman. Were these actors behind in their car payments? If you want good blaxploitation and you like Williamson, check out "Bucktown" or "Black Caesar" or any of the early '70s films he starred in before he thought he knew how to direct. This is an embarrassment to all the cast and crew (except for Gould who is hilarious!).I'd love to hear from a crew member who worked on this dreck. I'm sure it was a nightmare.

Mean Johnny Barrows is one mean a dull of a film.Basically it tells the story of Johnny Barrows, a former soldier who gets booted out of the army for striking an officer.As he returns to his hometown, he gets mugged and robbed and therefore, he is left penniless.Determined to start his life up again, he goes around looking for a job. There, he works at a garage and meets up with this chick called Nancy.However, prior to his job, he gets recruited by Mario Racconi when he gets gunned down by the Da Vinci family following a truce that went wrong.Determined to take on the job, Johnny goes round bumping off each member of the Da Vinci family until he reaches a climatic end putting a full scale on them with a double-barrelled shot gun.Well afterwards, what happens..? Someone puts a contract out on him. But who..?Well, it comes to show with a classic film like this, there are some good moments as well as bad. A good cast though, even Fred Williamson directed this flick.Not bad, but after all it is one mean of a dull film!