10
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 30The New York TimesCaryn JamesThe New York TimesCaryn JamesBut mostly the satire is as dated as the recruiters' plaid jackets, as lame as the Johnny Walker joke.
- 25Chicago TribuneGene SiskelChicago TribuneGene SiskelA dim-witted teen comedy and romance about an ace high school football player who has to fight off college recruiters as well as the father of the girl he's dating. Neither part of the film works, save for a few throwaway gags about recruiting. [25 March 1988, p.A]
- 25Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrBuried somewhere in the screenplay are some Robert Altman-esque satirical intentions, in which the wildly corrupt college football recruitment process is offered as a panoramic image of frenzied American venality. But Bud Smith's broad, colorless direction removes whatever sting the material may once have had, edging the action instead toward sub-"Police Academy" slapstick-flying pizzas, exploding fire extinguishers, mass fist- fights that break out for no discernible reason. [25 March 1988, p.D]
- 20Los Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonLos Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonJohnny Be Good, a would-be satire on the excesses of big-time college football recruiting, is so bad that the NCAA might consider using it as punishment for coaches who violate regulations.
- 12Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe screenplay for this movie bears every sign of being a first draft - a quick and dirty one. The movie doesn’t feel written, it feels dictated. Three authors are listed, and from the way their movie plays, they must have sat around in an office somewhere trying to get all of their cliches in a row.
- 0TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineJohnny be worthless.
- 0Washington PostHal HinsonWashington PostHal HinsonI doubt if I could stand to be in the same state as anyone who liked the new Anthony Michael Hall film "Johnny Be Good." If Chuck Berry were dead, he'd be spinning in his grave.
- 0Miami HeraldHal BoedekerMiami HeraldHal BoedekerJohnny Be Good -- hah! Johnny Be Terrible is more like it. This dopey football comedy loses major yardage in the first scene and never recovers. Scene one: A high school coach turns a prayer for a state championship into a foul-mouthed speech so loathsome that you expect the Almighty to smite him. If only He had, film goers would have been spared this hell of a movie. [29 March 1988, p.B6]