Some reviews about the movie
From Daily Texan;
"Ben McKenzie should no longer be remembered as “that cute blonde guy from ‘The OC.’” Instead, people should think of him as the actor who gives a stunning performance as a disabled war veteran in “Johnny Got His Gun.”
...Ultimately, this movie had the potential to be melodramatic and would have been been if not for such a strong performance from McKenzie. He takes the audience on a roller coaster ride, portraying emotions from complete hopelessness to a faint sense of optimism. Even if you mocked “The O.C.” in high school, you still have to appreciate the progress he’s made as an actor."
Source; http://www.dailytexanonline.com/ben_mckenzie_stars_in_powerful_drama
From Rag Blog;
Johnny Got His Gun has a sparse palette - a bench and a chair, occasional background lights for a pavilion or a night sky. It has only Ben McKenzie acting. His talent fills the screen. Softening his gaze so that we see his girlfriend in his eyes, erupting in rage, dissolving in despair. Diving under the bench, we watch him re-live artillery shelling. Reacting to a pinch and the metal blade that takes off a limb. Nursing his missing arm. A slight lift of his torso and we see the nurse changing his bedsheet. Within the limitations of this austere stage set, we experience his limitations and his racing mind. Through McKenzie's acting, we feel the pain of a World War I amputee and know that while almost a century separates that pain from that of a roadside bomb victim in Baghdad, it is the same, universal loss - the cost of war.
Source; http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/film-ben-mckenzie-in-johnny-got-his-gun.html
From Austin Chronicle;
"This 2008 film stars McKenzie, the Austin-bred actor and The OC star, in this first-time film director's re-creation of the black box, one-man show. Using only a chair and a bench for the set, McKenzie performs movingly as he relates the young man's tale and copes with his awful discovery.
... We know the events in this film are happening in the mind's eye of the otherwise motionless Joe, yet watching McKenzie bounce athletically about the stage distances the viewer from the story's intrinsic horror. Still, as we find ourselves again immersed in a time of war, Trumbo's ageless story offers a useful corollary."
Source; http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid:676176
From Austin-American Statesman;
"...they decided to re-create the stage production with McKenzie, whose boyish appeal suits the role, and open it gradually in major cities across the United States, with Austin being the first stop.
Johnny Got His Gun" won't break any box-office records. But it should find a small but loyal audience.
Source; http://www.austin360.com/movies/movies/etc/getCriticReview.jspd?criticReviewId=14863