Johnny Got His Gun (2008)

21% of critics liked it
(14 reviews)
71% of users liked it
(140 ratings)

Dalton Trumbo's haunting anti-war drama comes to the screen for the second time in this filmed version of the stage play starring Ben McKenzie. On the last day of World War I, American soldier Joe Bonham is hit by an artillery shell and instantly rendered a quadruple amputee. Later, as Joe regains… More Dalton Trumbo's haunting anti-war drama comes to the screen for the second time in this filmed version of the stage play starring Ben McKenzie. On the last day of World War I, American soldier Joe Bonham is hit by an artillery shell and instantly rendered a quadruple amputee. Later, as Joe regains consciousness in his hospital bed, he realizes to his horror that he has also lost his senses of sight, smell, sound, and speech. Though Joe's capacity for reasoning is in tack and his brain is still fully functional, it's locked in a broken shell of a body, leaving him hopelessly trapped in his own imagination. His only means of communicating with the outside world is to tap his head in Morse code, but do the doctors even realize what he's trying to say? Eventually, his desperate message gets through: Joe wants to be put on display as a living example of the devastating cost of war. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 17 min.
Directed By: Rowan Joseph
Genres: Drama, Musical & Performing Arts, Special Interest

In Theaters: Aug 22, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Jun 1, 2009
Studio: Truly Indie

Critic Reviews

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
Unless viewers are aficionados of solo shows and want to see every one they can, this effort comes off as forced, far too self-aware and unfortunately dated.
Laura Kern, New York Times
Staged plays just aren't that cinematic, and even under the capable direction of Rowan Joseph, Mr. McKenzie doesn't provide enough spark to offset the problem.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
It's hard not to wish that the novel had instead been newly adapted into a real film by a director with the requisite daring and imagination.
Dennis Harvey, Variety
Ably filmed by veteran stage producer-director Rowan Joseph, Bradley Rand Smith's theatrical script provides a bravura thespian workout for Ben McKenzie.
Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times
Trumbo's aim was a kind of proletarian poetry, but McKenzie's broad emoting has the deadly earnestness of a school play.
Kyle Smith, New York Post
Trumbo's dialogue is as subtle as a bayonet charge and as outdated, while McKenzie, alternately shouty and moany, is not the actor to pull it off.
Charles Ealy, Austin American-Statesman
Johnny Got His Gun won't break any box-office records. But it should find a small but loyal audience.
David Noh, Film Journal International
McKenzie has the perfect boy-next-door looks as well as the physical intensity and ardent naturalism to hold your interest. It's a tour-de-force performance, and Joseph's camerawork is fluid and sensitive.
David Fear, Time Out New York
A veteran theater director, Rowan Joseph adapted Dalton Trumbo's antiwar novel into an Off Broadway play in 1982. If you're still kicking yourself for missing that production, then this film is for you -- and only you.
Marco Cerritos, Boxoffice Magazine
The story of a wounded soldier during World War I and his hallucinations about life and combat serve as a poignant reminder of our country's current situation, but donâ(TM)t do much to elevate it beyond that.
Bill Weber, Slant Magazine
This incarnation of Johnny Got His Gun is a mismatch of medium, text and talent.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Coming out one year after The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julian Schnabel's inventively mesmerizing movie about a man who can only communicate through blinking his eyes, places Johnny Got His Gun at a disadvantage.