Crazy People (1990)

Simply Perfect

Let's be realistic.

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

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).

Dudley Moore, a man, left short again. Unfortunately for Dud, the writers didn't lose much sleep drafting some of the patchy story lines, in this average advertising/mental home comedy romp (is it still safe to say that? lol).However there are many redeemable appearances, most notably from, Mr George Cartelli.Hello. Hello how you doin? His expertly delivered catchphrases will live on, in my life, and the lives of my many future grandchildren. And how could they not. The man who has said nothing but Hello since 1977, comes alive in what is without question, the funniest 'crazy' character to come out of the silver screen, .er...ever. Are the rumours of TV networks fighting over Cartelli's pilot sitcom true?

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.

I'm kind of stuck. Half of this movie is the most hilarious I have seen this decade, the other half I could very well have lived without."Crazy People" talks about two types of nut cases: ones that are committed to institutions and the others who think they are normal and live on the other side of the wall. Of course, the main crux of the story is when Moore's life takes a nose-dive and he cracks, writing brutally savage ads for some very well-known products ("Quaker Oats - How does it taste? Who knows, but at least the BOX is cute"). Of course, nothing tops the tag line he makes for that horror movie "The Freak" or the ticket lady's comment about this movie later on. His bosses put him away and then, when his printed ads catch fire and turn advertising on its ear, they recruit him to write more. Only this time, he gets the others in the asylum with him to write ads, too.Now, this part is funny. What isn't funny is when they start to take the story seriously and try to shoehorn drama into parts where it doesn't make every single person out as some level of wacko. Drama has its place but not in a movie that takes potshots at Metamucil.Moore is really great, this is his last really funny role since "Arthur". Reiser has some good scenes as does Hannah, Walsh, Paymer and Ruehl and then there's the ads. My gosh, has there ever been anything ever written as funny as these? Not since "Mad Magazine", really."Crazy People" is at least half great; the craziest things in it, though, are the people who thought it should have serious parts.Five stars for "Crazy People" - watch it for the ads.