Still Crazy

One of the best films I have seen in ages, it had me laughing and giggling all the way through. Basic storyline - Glam rock band splits in the 1970s due to the excessives of rock life and internal agruments. Twenty years later the band reunite for a reunion festival, with all the old frictions still going strong. Can they make a go of it this time or will they "bollocks it up" again. The experience writing of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais coupled with superb acting by Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall and especially Bill Nighy makes it a film well worth watching!

Hello, I was alanrickmaniac. I'm a Still Crazy-holic. It was just another movie I watched partly on TV. Then I had to get the video tape to finally find out how it ends. Then I wanted the DVD, because the tape showed first signs of decay after a few weeks. After the DVD I had to lay my hands on the soundtrack. Then on several film posters and the film script. Right now it has become that worse that I try to push other people into addiction with my website and Still Crazy parties.

How could that happen? What drove me into addiction?

OK, it's one of those funny but somehow sad and melancholic intelligent comedies like only the British can produce.

Alright, the movie is worlds apart from stuff like ''This Is Spinal Tap'', because of the characters, that aren't childish or ultra cool, but real. This is a story about men getting older, too. A story about men getting along with each other. Or don't. It contains some of the best actors possible. Tim Spall. Stephen Rea. Bruce Robinson. Jimmy Nail. And Bill Nighy. Bill Nighy who puts on one of the best performances I've ever seen in a film.

Good, the soundtrack is unbelievable. Foreigner's Mick Jones has written the songs for the imaginary band Strange Fruit. Jimmy Nail who plays bass-man Les Wickes and Bill Nighy portraying the egocentric but awkward singer Ray Simms are really singing. We know that about Jimmy Nail, but if you've only heard Bill Nighy's singing in "Love Actually", you have no idea how great and powerful his voice is.

Well, you'll fever for every scene to come for the x-th time, especially those concert scenes. You'd die to be able to really stand in the dancing crowd when Strange Fruit is doing "All Over The World", singing on the top of your lungs. You long to cry and celebrate with thousands of people the rebirth of the real Strange Fruit at Wisbech's festival stage.

It's hard but... I'm addicted to this film. I'm addicted to Strange Fruit. If there's a world where this band really exists I'd like to move there.

Got Still Crazy... anyone?

I'm not sure why this film didn't get more of a release in the U.S. It's a lot easier to understand and faster paced than THE FULL MONTY and it's a lot more accessible than TRAINSPOTTING. In this era of sleeper hit indies from The United Kingdom, it certainly seems like there could have been room in the American cinematic marketplace for this charming film. The plot revolves around a 60's/70's band called "Strange Fruit" whose members decide to reunite in the late 90's. Their lives are in shambles and they all seem to miss rock stardom, so the reunion seems natural, but before they know it, they are reminded why the band broke up in the first place. The squabbling bandmates are played by a great group of actors. Their attempts to recapture their old magic are at first pathetic (and hilarious), but by the end of the second act, you'll be rooting for these guys. Billy Connolly plays the band's 'road dog' and he lights up the screen whenever he's on it. The direction (Brian Gibson directed WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT and THE JOSEPHINE BAKER STORY) and script are first rate as well.

Brian Gibson's Still Crazy was not a film on my list. However, one afternoon I was channel surfing on a satellite dish and came across this AMAZING film about a 1970's rock & roll band who comes back together twenty years after their disasterous final concert. For keyboard player Tony (Stephen Rea), guitar player/backup singer Les (Jimmy Nail), lead singer Ray (Bill Nighy), drummer Beano (Timothy Spall), "road dog" Hughie (Billy Connolly), and manager Karen (Juliet Aubrey), a second chance is a God send. Unfortunately, they are lacking two players, Keith, who died of a drug overdose two years before the Strange Fruit's final concert, and Brian, his brother, a stunning guitar player who was the genious and the glue of the band. Still Crazy is a fabulous mixture of British comedy, damn fine music, and superb performances, especially by Bill Nighy as the pathetically egotistical Ray Simms. Helena Bergstrom is also hilarious as Ray's over-protective wife, Astrid. Watch especially for a couple of poignant scenes between Juliet Aubrey and Bruce Robinson, who appears in a touching cameo. Out of 10 stars, I give this hilarious and sweet rock & roll resurrection film a good, solid 10!

This is perhaps the best rockumentary ever- a British, better This Is Spinal Tap. The characters are believable, the plot is great, and you can genuinely empathise with some of the events- such as Ray's problem with fitting in the band.

The soundtrack is excellent. Real period stuff, even if it is in the same key, you'll be humming some of the songs for days. What I liked was the nearly all-British cast, with some of the favourite household names. Ray's wife is priceless...

The film never drags, it just goes at the right pace, and has some genuinely funny sections in it. A generator of some really good catchphrases!

It's a hidden diamond.