Crazy Six

Honestly, I didn't really have high expectations for this movie, but at the same time I was hopeful. Having it be directed by Albert Pyun - a well known b-movie auteur - didn't exactly raise my hopes. I mean how many Albert Pyun flicks rank that highly? Yeah, exactly ... but still the movie advertised a decent cast. Rob Lowe, Burt Reynolds (pre-reborn stardom), Ice-T and Mario Van Peebles.

It all amounts to squat however as the movie is so boring and moves so slowly that the energy just seemed to drain right out of me the longer it went on. It runs over 90 minutes, but it's telling a story that could have been told in 30 minutes flat. I don't know what Pyun was going for here. I mean the movie drips artsy-like style, but it's a blur at times and maybe I'm an idiot for expecting more from Pyun this time around. Here he seemed to actually have a budget and a potentially great cast for the material, but it's all wasted. Crazy Six isn't much of an action film, it's not much of anything really.

I guess what's the saddest here is the fact that I found the end credits the most entertaining part of the movie. The music score is actually half-decent with some smooth female vocals too, but the rest is a complete waste and the less said the better. Avoid.

I bought this movie because Mario Van Peebles is in it, and I am a HUGE fan of his. I did not know, however, that his younger brother, Max, was in the movie, as he is just as handsome as big brother. I did not think that Ice-T, Burt Reynolds or Rob Lowe did a good job at all. However, the Russian actress was better than all. More words should have been used for a better understanding of the entire movie, as the actors appeared totally to have a flat affect.

They say that since communism died, Russia hasn't been the same. Of course everyone knows their economy has suffered, but less is known about the insurgence of crime that has taken over that country, especially from the new mobs.

Crazy Six is a low level mob leader. His real name is Billy (Rob Lowe) and he's also a chronic drug addict. When he and his boys decide to rip off a rival operation led by Raul (played by Ice-T) he finds that he's in for a real gang war. Billy teams up with another rival mob boss named Dirty Mao (Mario Van Pebbles) in order to overthrow the power that Raul has.

Billy's girlfriend, played by an unknown Russian actress named Ivana Milicevic, has tried to overcome her drug addiction and become a one woman lounge act, suddenly is an unwilling participant in the war between the two groups. She wants to start a new life with her 5 year old daughter, but her involvement with Billy means trouble, not only with the other gangs, but in possibly falling back to the activities that got her in trouble in the first place.

Along for the ride is Burt Reynolds as a local law enforcement agent (I don't make these things up) who seems to come in whenever he's needed. His is the most vague character, and with the cowboy look fits into the picture the least.

Crazy Six leaves so many questions that you really don't know where to start. First, why is the film even set in Russia? There's so little indication, other than a few instances where someone says something in Russian, that the story takes place there that it seems a bit arbitrary to give it a specific location. It could have been in South Central Los Angeles, or the ghettos of New York. Second, who are these people? They are in Russia, yet hardly any of the cast is Russian. Rob Lowe? Ice-T? Burt Reynolds? Even Mario Van Pebbles uses a French accent. It's been said that Russia was the new land of opportunity...for crime, but did everyone outside of Russia see it that way and head over? The story is so vague and slow that you simply have to guess as to the motives of each character.

The film is so vague as to the motives of each character that it's impossible to really see the point. Lowe walks around in a drugged stupor the entire film, and Van Pebbles accent is so rediculous as to be laughable. Everyone in this film, with the possible exception of Ivana Milicevic, is miscast. She is Russian and, therefore, believable. The others don't pull it off, and keep us wondering why they are there.

I have made a note of the Director's name to make sure I never see another of his films. Who gave him the money to do it?I watched it just after Jackie Brown by Tarantino (excellent)so the comparison was grim. The film was made by someone in love with himself - one long advert - ok lets have a few pretty clever shots - but all the way through? I didn't care a damn about any of the characters. Four of us watched it and, please, I thought I'd tell Blockbuster they might like to take it off the shelves before too many people asked for their money back. No pace, not remotely gripping - the only thing missing was the soft-porn B movie scenes - I suppose we can thank the makers for that.

As a fan of independent films I expected a lot more out of this movie. The worst part of the movie was the music. For some reason they found it necessary between scenes to return to the same droll song over and over again. The action in this movie was nonexistent, as was the interaction between characters. Mario van Peebles was casted as a French bad guy. This was by far the worst French accent I have ever heard. Rob Lowe was a junkie and played that very well. The rest of the actors weren't noteworthy. All in all, this movie falls into Top 5 bad movies of all time. I've seen B movies (Caged Heat, USA Up All Night, etc.) that had a better plot and acting.