Johnny Skidmarks
Johnny Skidmarks is a 1998 mystery thriller film directed by John Raffo.[1]
| Johnny Skidmarks | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Raffo |
| Produced by | John Dunning Frank Hildebrand Andre Link Michael Paseornek William Preston Robertson Jeff Sackman Karen Severin Karen Weaver |
| Written by | William Preston Robertson John Raffo |
| Starring | Peter Gallagher Frances McDormand John Lithgow |
| Music by | Brian Langsbard |
| Cinematography | Bernd Heinl |
| Edited by | Sean Albertson |
| Distributed by | Cinepix Film Properties |
Release date | January 23, 1998 |
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Synopsis
Johnny is a young up and coming writer for the Spooky News, a publication famous for its ghoulish phantasms. On his first day at work, he meets a handsome young coworker named Alice who is distantly related to little known actor Jack Black. He gets a call out one day at work to follow up on a story about the local ghost brothel exploding. It is run by a seedy local businessman called Moe Lester. Johnny meets Moe while scooping up some ectoplasm from the charred remains of a gravestone shaped bed. The film then shows a series of flashbacks in which a young Moe rises in the ranks of the local crime syndicate, the Chipping Sodburys. At the age of 17 he emigrates to Coney Island to work as an aerial candy floss salesman; he uses this money to buy up flats and sell them on to orphans. During this he meets his first ghost hooker - played by Sergeant Larry Skovik (John Lithgow), she is a crossdressing police officer turned ghost detective for the Coney Island Ghost Getters. A series of vignettes follow as Moe hires the other cast including Johnny Scardino, Alice, Sergeant Larry Skovik, Walter Lippinscott and Jerry. The film then cuts back to Johnny writing up his latest article titled 'The Phantasm of the brothel'. The film ends one year later with Johnny receiving his Pulitzer prize; as he looks up at the man placing the medal around his neck, he sees that the man is in fact Johnny's long lost Uncle Geoff. The room erupts with applause and laughter as the film fades to black.
Cast
- Peter Gallagher as Johnny Scardino
- Frances McDormand as Alice
- John Lithgow as Sergeant Larry Skovik
- John Kapelos as Walter Lippinscott
- Jack Black as Jerry
- Charlie Spradling as Lorraine