DVD Reviews

Crazy People

Crazy People is a film that is constantly at war with itself. On one hand it’s a very funny and dark satire of the advertising industry which showcases many hilarious ads. On the other hand though, it tries to tell a very sappy romance story using caricatures so broad they feel like they have been brought in from a Zucker Brothers film.

The good part of the film involves Emory Leeson (Dudley Moore) losing touch with reality and deciding that his ad agency needs to start telling the truth. He begins to create honest ads that speak directly to the customers. The agency thinks he’s crazy and sends him away to a psychiatric facility, but of course the ads become wildly popular and suddenly Emory is the most respected adman in town. These moments of the film often had me laughing out loud. The advertisements are incredibly ridiculous, but have a lot of truth to them. It’s amazing then that the other parts of the film feel so false. While at the mental institution Emory meets a wacky group of inmates. The most seemingly normal person is Kathy (Daryl Hannah) and before they are finished a quick walk in the woods the two have fallen for each other. This might be one of the oddest romantic pairings I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the other inmates don't help as they are incredibly bizarre and one-note - there’s the inmate who only says hello, the one who is obsessed with Saab, etc. Because they are so outlandish I found it incredibly hard to care about any of these characters. I would forgive the film this flaw if these people were genuinely funny, but it’s tough to laugh when they are saying the same joke repeatedly. So, in the end I’m completely split on Crazy People. As I was watching the film I was always hoping that the inmate scenes would end quickly, so that I could get back to the good stuff.

Paramount has done a nice job on the transfer for this film. I noticed a few scratches on the image, but for the most part everything was clear with vibrant colours. The soundtrack projected the music and dialogue quite vividly. Alas, there are absolutely no special features on this DVD at all - not even a theatrical trailer. Even though it probably doesn’t warrant many special features it would have been nice to have at least a photo gallery of the films many ads.

Review By Corey Brown