Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Gibson Frazier | ... | Johnny Twennies | |
Cara Buono | ... | Virginia Clemens | |
Ian Edwards | ... | Clarence | |
Brian Davies | ... | Victor Young | |
Susan Egan | ... | Samantha Winter | |
Yul Vazquez | ... | Brooding Artist | |
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Dwight Ewell | ... | Richard Lancaster |
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Brian Kite | ... | Messenger |
David Margulies | ... | Mr. Meyerscholtz | |
Anthony Rapp | ... | Timothy Burns | |
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Alfred Hyslop | ... | Public Official |
David Anzuelo | ... | Degenerate | |
Sean Patrick Reilly | ... | Reporter | |
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Alan Davidson | ... | Tyrus |
Kevin Weisman | ... | Squibb |
Johnny Twennies, a newspaper columnist in present-day New York, is a jauntily cheerful, very friendly, totally honest and upstanding young man who happens to be completely oblivious to any technological or social changes in the past 70 years. He routinely uses telegrams, a manual typewriter, and a manual toaster, and to the pleasure and despair of his girlfriend conducts his personal life in correspondingly anachronistic style. One day he's threatened by criminals who want to plant a false news story. But they've never met anyone like him before... Written by Anonymous
Caught this on cable quite by accident-- the idea behind it seemed really cute, and I decided to give it 10 minutes, to at least see how long it took for the filmmakers to screw it up.
Surprisingly, it held my attention for the entire film. The gimmick never got old; just when it seemed in danger of doing so, something new would happen to keep it fresh. A new character here, a plot twist there. Good, thoughtful filmmaking... and I really dug the 1920's slang. I wish I could remember more of it. Why DID we stop talking like this, anyway?
Good acting, some clever writing and a smartly-plotted story. The ending was a little cheesy, I thought, as I wanted to know the fates of the characters beyond the newspaper-story driven plot. But considering the source material, it really ended the only way it could have. So it's an amusing distraction for 90 minutes or so. And kind of educational, too. Banana Oil!