Character Joe Bonham Directed By Rowan Joseph Written By Bradley Rand Smith (adaptation), Dalton Trumbo Genre Drama MPAA Rating Not available Cast Highlights ...Matty Ferraro (voice) ...Meredith Kendall (Mother's voice) Filming Locations Los Angeles, California

{+} Official Site {+} IMDb {+} Photo Gallery {+} Video Clips

Filmed on a bare stage in the style of Lars von Trier’s DOGVILLE, actor Ben McKenzie gives a riveting tour-de-force performance as an American soldier hit by an artillery shell on the last day of WWI. The movie takes place in the mind of Joe Bonham, a quadruple amputee who has also lost his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Regaining consciousness, Joe discovers that while his brain is healthy and able to reason, the rest of his body is irreparably shattered, leaving him trapped forever within the confines of his own imagination. He struggles valiantly to find some way to communicate with the outside world. Tapping his head in Morse code, he breaks through and pleads with his caretakers to be put on display as a living example of the cost of war.

The film is adapted from the 1982 Off-Broadway play, Dalton Trumbo's JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN.

Dalton Trumbo's JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, adapted for the stage by Bradley Rand Smith, was first presented Off-Broadway in 1982 at the Circle Repertory Theatre, starring a then unknown 28-year old actor by the name of Jeff Daniels. Daniels won an Obie Award for his performance in the play and has since gone on to become one of Hollywood's most versatile leading men, having played everything from villains and cads to heroes and romantic leads to tragic figures and lovably goofy idiots, in movies of almost every genre.

The play is adapted from the 1939 National Book Award-winning novel, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, written by Dalton Trumbo.

Dalton Trumbo's National Book Award-winning 1939 novel, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, has sold 100 million copies, having been printed in 40 separate editions in 30 different languages; the most recent in July 2007 with a new forward written by Cindy Sheehan, whose solider son died in Iraq on April 4, 2004.

Trumbo's own 1971 film version of the book won the Grand Jury Prize and FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Clips of the film were used by the rock band Metallica in the 1989 music video for their song "One," which was based on the novel as well.