Crazy People (1990)

The most subversive comedy ever to come out of Hollywood. It absolutely torches capitalism and the empty-headed consumerism that is its driving force. The first 20 minutes are easily the film's strongest, taking on the status quo and delivering a hydrogen truth-bomb right on top of Madison Avenue's best and brightest.The main criticism of Crazy People - the unnecessary romantic sub-plot - can easily be overlooked when compared to how solid it is at its core. There is real value to be found here, which is not something that can be said for most pieces of entertainment.Roger Ebert said it "has more really big laughs in it than any other unsuccessful comedy I've seen." Entertainment Weekly gave it a "D-" calling it out for "unintentionally celebrating" advertising. Vincent Canby of the NY Times also hated it to pieces, which really rubbed me the wrong way until I noticed that he felt the same way about both Rain Man and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. (Whatever, Vince - if you wanted to see people eating their own poop in the quest for realistic depictions of asylums, you were squarely in the minority.) I feel that Variety hit the nail on the head with their brief synopsis: "Crazy People combines a hilarious dissection of advertising with a warm view of so-called insanity." Hollywood's daily V-rag also noted that two weeks into shooting, two big changes were made: Dudley Moore replaced John Malkovich, and writer/director Mitch Markowitz lost the directing gig to Tony Bill. Not really relevant here, but interesting.I know this wasn't the best review, but I'm not a professional writer and don't have an editor. I hope you find it adequate (or even helpful).

The premise of this movie is simple and hilarious. Moore play an advertising executive who experiences a minor nervous breakdown. Unlike 'Reginald Perrin', who fakes his suicide, Moore's character has a falling-out with deceit. He begins composing advertisements that tell the truth.And this is where the comedy really takes off. Moore's character is confined to an institution, but in the meantime his spoof adverts are accidentally sent to press. As things turn out; the truth has more appeal than lies (why do ad-men and politicians find that so hard to accept?). In the asylum, the plot enters its 'second phase', as we are introduced to a bunch of people with all manner of comic and tragic conditions. It is they who take up the thread of humour in this part. It is also here that things go awry. A romantic sub-plot is farcically attempted by the introduction Of Darly Hannah as a love interest for Moore. Like him; she has also been committed for some reason.The story then struggles between these two digressing strands and the whole plot is stretched too thin to cover them. Dudley Moore was 55 by the time he worked this movie, and much too old to play a romantic lead with a 20-something inmate. Their relationship begins to look uncomfortably like abuse. Darly Hannah has a wonderful face and figure, but not much else. Her coy-and-vulnerable-beauty is a role she would reprise to the letter in 'Splash' with Tom Hanks.There is a happy ending as you would expect; but by then, so many wheels have come off that you no longer take the joke seriously any more. It's a pity John Guilgud wasn't used instead of Ms Hannah. He could have been an insane politician turned philosophical mentor, or some such thing. The plot would have stayed on-track and the gags could have kept on coming. The pairing had already been shown to be a winning formula in 'Arthur'. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby demonstrated that such a franchise could work in the longer-term with their 'Road To...' series.For the most part, this is well worth a watch. Just be ready to make some coffee or get a beer or something when the maudlin and implausible romance takes over. Unless you're a fan of Ms Hannah's physical charms, that is.This was pretty well Dudley Moore's last Hollywood outing. If he'd been 20 years younger I think he would have made the ideal candidate for 'Splash'. But the studios needed a younger vulnerable-funny-guy, and Tom Hanks seems to have been Moore's natural successor. He wasn't as funny, but he wasn't so short and had youth on his side. He was also a yank.If you think this is good, then try 'Bedazzled'. You'll see Cuddly Dudley both at his most endearing, and at the high point of his pairing with Peter Cook.

My brother and I spotted this when we were renting a movie in one of those big discount bins of random movies. We sometimes enjoy watching stupid movies just for the hell of it and thought thats what it was going to turn out to be. We were pleasantly surprised with about the first half of the movie. Take out the throughly unnecessary love story and this movie could be an hour shorter and would probably get a much higher rating. Now I sometimes watch it, fast forwarding through the tedious bits. I would recommend it, but I don't know that I would pay more than a coupla bucks for the pleasure of watching it. It's the kind of movie that you get excited about showing friends, and glow with pride at finding such a great movie for a good part of but then sit around uncomfortably for stretches of it because you know they are inexcusably boring.

Truth in advertising... if only it were so! No, it's not the slickest film and the performances are just a bit flat, but there's a lot of good material to work with. The "R" rating is for a lot of scattered profanity (which really isn't necessary, but.. wait! wait! here's a slogan for Hollywood screenwriters: "We're really stupid dullards, but we say 'F---' a lot so you'll think we're smart!"), but if you can stand it, this movie has a lot of funny moments. Darryl Hannah playes a cute dysfunctional inmate who falls for a stressed-out and temporarily committed Dudley Moore - there's a lot stolen from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" here, but it's entertaining enough that you shouldn't mind. Worth watching at least once.