Freaky Deaky (2012)

The Age of Commercialism

Thanks for the memories!

An unexpected masterpiece

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Well, this movie was poorly made. It really was, which is probably why we didn't see it anywhere and I had to actively track it down.But, a big part of it is likely the budget. It stinks of low budget and you can't really make an ultra low budget period flick and have actually turn out well.But, 7 of 10 stars because it is unique. The story is original, and that is probably why it had such a low budget feel to it, but that doesn't really matter at all.You still have an Elmore Leonard movie, which means you still have characters you haven't really encountered in stories before and a plot that you haven't really seen before all in a genre--crime--that is over done and paint-by-numbers.So, watch it, if nothing more than you are getting a real story, a fresh story, an Elmore Leonard story and he is always worth it...because without him you get more of the same old crap on repeat.It's a story you probably haven't encountered before and that is always worth a watching.

Now my first thought in watching this movie was that it was quite an accomplishment that they were able to get Crispin Glover, and Andy Dick to perform, and provide coherent performances. Beyond that you have quite the jumbled mess here that gives you the time run around for the first third of so, then just seems to suddenly converges into one story that all the players are together in. If my words are a mess in your face, then you are starting to feel a lot of how you will feel watching this movie. Crispin Glover just plays himself by the fell of it, and only once does he even remotely seem to have a grasp on reality. Or he is a great actor. Cristian Slater is his usual self, and sadly we all know that that means the poor man's Jack Nicholson, still playing the same roll that he has played for 30 years now. Or he is a great actor. The one great surprise for me was Billy Burke, and his attempt at trying to seem like a Clint Eastwood gritty cop. Michael Jai White was fantastic as Donnell, he is the glue that binds the rest of the characters together. This would be as good a movie as something like Pulp Fiction, or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, if the dialog were less contemporary, or at least more contemporary to that time. Sure it would have made writing the jokes more challenging, but then they would have been better right? Enjoy anyway.

. . . one expects a little more than FREAKY DEAKY delivers. Apparently this was exhibited theatrically somewhere for at least 15 minutes, but it plays like a second-rate made-for-cable-TV flick. Since it does not have any nudity, Showtime and Cinemax definitely did not underwrite FREAKY DEAKY's bills. If there is a Speed Junior channel available somewhere (or better yet, a Jackass Channel aimed at the Amish market), FREAKY DEAKY would be a good fit, since the producers idea of fun is to blow up everyone but the bomb squad cop with explosions spaced about 15 minutes apart. Nothing too graphic, since FREAKY DEAKY (unlike, say, PULP FICTION) is film that pulls all of its punches. The characterizations are thin and unbelievable, and the actors do not look like they're having much fun--two things one would NOT say about PULP FICTION. According to recent comments from the mayor of Boston, Detroit should not have a bomb squad, anyway (in FREAKY DEAKY, Billy Burke plays Motor City demolitions Defuser Sgt. Chris Mankowski). Bean Town's boss says the first thing he would do in the Mitten State is blow up its biggest city.

I love Elmore Leonard I have read just about every novel he has written this is not among my favorites. However some of my favorites (Stick, 52 Pick Up, Rum Punch) have been made into completely terrible films.This on the other hand is a nice adaptation. Characterizations and dialog doesn't stray much from the original story. Much of it plays out just like it did in my imagination when I read the book. The acting was passable, though I thought Glover (and to a lesser degree Andy Dick) were miscast but they did a decent job. The tone of the movie was light and breezy just like the novel. I would love to see the director take a crack at one of Leonard's better novels like Stick or The Hunted.