Crazy People

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.

Well, I almost did. The first time I saw Crazy People, I thought it was a work of comic genius. Now, several years later, I still do.

Emory and Steve (Dudley Moore and Paul Reiser) are ad executives who need to come up with new advertisements in a hurry. When Emory's relationship falls apart, he becomes disillusioned with the whole business of lying and makes up some honest ads. As his partner, Steve is naturally concerned, and has him committed to a mental hospital. While they're doing that, the honest ads accidentally get printed. People everywhere are told that they should fly United Airlines because, quote, "Most of our passengers get there alive." This is just one of the hilarious and truthful ads we get to see in the film.

When the honest ads become wildly popular, the head of the ad agency wants Emory to come back to work. He doesn't want to leave the hospital, so the members of his group therapy group become ad writers to help him. As it turns out, the lunatics are very good at writing honest commercials. The New York tourism campaign was particularly good. Ad #1 told us that "It's not as filthy as you think," whereas Ad #2 assured us that "There were fewer murders last year."

There is a bit of tension in the middle of the movie, but I'm not going to spoil that for those people who haven't seen it yet. Trust me, it's worth the rental price. If you're looking for a good laugh, get ahold of this movie. If you're looking for intelligent discourse on the subject of dishonesty in society or mankind's relative dishonesty with himself or others, rent something else along with this movie.

One more ad, in case you're not totally convinced yet: "Metamucil: It helps you go to the toilet. If you don't use it, you'll get cancer and die."

Go on. You know you want to. Okay, go to the toilet first. But then, rent this movie!

This is not the most intellectually stimulating film ever made. Nor is it the most believable plot - but it is funny, whimsical and charming, and occasionally surreal. If you want a film to brighten up your life, this fits the bill just nicely. The supporting cast are also very engaging, being far more than just a backdrop to Moore and Hannah. I like it a lot.

Emory Leeson (Dudley Moore) and Stephen Bachman (Paul Reiser) are writing partners in a New York ad agency. Frustrated Emory develops writer's block after his wife leaves him taking everything. He's tired of lying and his painfully honest ads infuriate their boss Drucker (J.T. Walsh). Bachman sends him to a psychiatric retreat in the care of Dr. Liz Baylor (Mercedes Ruehl). His ads are accidentally released and become hugely successful. Drucker sends Bachman to get him back but he has fallen for beautiful Kathy Burgess (Daryl Hannah) and the relaxed lifestyle. He and the group of misfits start writing highly successful ads.

The ads are fun. The idea of satire on the advertising industry has promise. The execution has some fun moments with the crazy people group. The romance however has no heat. Hannah is nice but there is little chemistry. The Drucker villain is too broad. The satire has no bite. It's not horrible but it's forgettable.

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.