C.R.A.Z.Y.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

Moviecut—C.R.A.Z.Y.

I am totally baffled by the praise heaped on this film. I just saw it at the San Diego Gay and Lesbian Film Fstival (FilmOut), where it was the closing feature. Each festival screening starts with the Executive Director talking about how great the films are. C.R.A.Z.Y. was singled out for special mention each time. With so much hype, I expected at least a mediocre film, and I hoped for a great one. This first part of the movie is stock and formulaic, but still interesting. We follow the main character through his birth and first seven years. So far, this could be any gay film. Then, the character hits puberty. The film telegraphed his homosexuality, his father's intolerance, and his mother's ineffectualness, so none of that came as a surprise, but was competently portrayed. Following this point, however, like the broken record that was part of the plot, the film gets stuck, repeating the same scenes over and over. From here on, the film stops making any forward progress at all. The characters don't develop, nothing new of them is revealed, the plot doesn't advance. The main character tries to fit in and be "normal" while occasionally experiencing the illicit thrill of borderline sexual contact with another man. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. The character indulges in magical thinking, believing that his actions will change reality. This started when he was a very small boy, avoiding stepping on sidewalk cracks so that his mother will give birth to a boy. But now he risks his life in a series of stunts, believing that if he does so and survives, he will be "cured" of being gay. Over and over. The film even includes about twenty totally pointless minutes of him running to the other side of the world, literally, to escape his reality, but of course repeating the same behavior, in the same way. Again and again. Eventually, after subjecting the audience to such repetitive drivel that we first stop caring what happens to the characters, then actually hope the lead finally succeeds in killing himself, if only to bring the interminable film to an end, and presumably only because the director ran out of both film stock and money to buy more, it ends. It doesn't advance to an ending, it doesn't resolve anything through drama; it just ends. As if to reinforce that he simply ran out of film and cash, the director has the lead character just tell us, in a voice-over, how it all turns out. If you see this movie, go home about mid-way through, and read a spoiler. Either way, you'll be merely told the resolution. But it'll be much more satisfying not to have been forced to sit there as the same few scenes are endlessly repeated for an extra hour beforehand. Sure, the music was well-chosen and evocative. But buy a mix CD and save yourself the grief. I notice a lot of the earlier comments seemed to feel this film is wonderful because it is Canadian. That's an insult to Canadian filmmakers. I've seen a lot of really terrific films from Canada. This isn't one of them.

This French-Canadien film about a very dysfunction family was very unrealistic to me. The father seemed strict BUT never was seen being strict. The mother was not strict enough, granted she had 5 sons BUT we never see any of them help around the house except for washing the car. As the lads get older we see them smoke other type of cigarettes, Doesn't the parents smell the smoke. The lads don't get along, especially with the next to the youngest. There is a big deal about that he may be gay,. He did not seem gay to me at all.So he liked to look at other guys.(big deal) These are supposedly devout catholics,they seemed like hypocrites to me. The film runs 129 minutes it seemed like it ran 229 minutes.Scenes went on & on & on. The music score was great, BUT I would have liked to hear the lyrics better. I just do not see how this was so critically acclaimed,it was not a terrible film, It had good acting & the scenery was nice, The scenery at near the ending was quite beautiful. However,the story line at that point made no sense to me at all. Ratings: **1/2 (out of 4) 70 points (out of 100) IMDb 6 (out of 10)_

The music out of this film was excellent, as was the cinematography. Family matters are rarely treated with such poignant respect, particularly in the first half of the film. However, that being said -- I can't say that this film deserves the 8.3 that it got on IMDb -- let alone in the top 50 comedies of all time (!!!). My friends and I sat down expecting a good, solid comedy to lift our spirits... while the first half of the film satisfied that, the second half definitely did not. It was far more of a drama than a comedy by all respects. While the characters are well developed and the film itself beautiful and scored with great musical taste, the film backs itself into a corner and fails to create a climax with meaning and a closure that brings the plot into clarity.

A wonderful movie. C.R.A.Z.Y. is a truly touching drama about a young man's struggle to come to terms with who he is and his father's inability and refusal to accept the truth. The cast is superb and directed with gusto. Marc-André Grondin, Michel Côté and Danielle Proulx offer the best performances I've seen in a film in a long time. They really make you feel for these characters. The soundtrack is amazing. A wonderful journey into the music of the 60s, 70s and 80s which contributes perfectly to enhance the story. A well developed story unfolding with intensity and emotion. What more can one ask for in a movie? Don't miss this!!

(I wish I wrote this in french because I will not be able to mean all in English) This movie is simple but accurate. Sometimes the subject don't need to be complicated, the emotions are enough. The life of a family searching for happiness but who sometimes find misfortune in the path. The characters are all representative of many generations. Nostalgia will get most of people. The actors are all great especially Michel Côté, Marc-André Grondin et Pierre-Luc Brilliant. Video and audio editing come from genius. The music is O_O (read the Trivia and you'll understand). I have nothing more to say than this movie will give you what you awaited for. You have to see it ... again. Félicitations Jean-Marc !!!

C.R.A.Z.Y. is simply one of the best movies of all time. It encapsulates a time and a place – Quebec in the sixties, seventies and eighties and evokes the era with an amazing sound track and jaw-dropping acting. You're there, in the moment with Gervais, played by Michel Côté who is the macho factory-working Dad. He's the proud father of five sons but gradually realizes that one of them is a 'sissy' and takes this on personally in the jock world he inhabits. The father is a fully rounded character, not cast in the black and white mold so prevalent in other movies of this genre as his puzzled love for his fourth son Zac, played by Marc-André Grondin, is palpable. The movie takes off in completely unexpected directions. Zac is totally uncomfortable with his sexuality and prays all the time for a 'cure'. He just wants to be like his brothers and earn the love and acceptance of his father. It is telling that for Gervais, he can accept his druggie son but not the one he suspects of being a 'fairy'. There is a huge amount of humour in the movie, one scene in the cathedral with the boys' choir singing "Sympathy for the Devil" brought a joyful laughter to the audience I was in. It is that kind of movie. Gervais sings Charles Aznevour's hits with predicable regularity and has a thing for Patsy Cline and her music. It is the era when everything was changing and insular Quebec, like the rest of the world, was being exposed to the outside world of David Bowie and Jefferson Airplane. Zac embraces all of these changes and struggles with his orientation. Nothing is ever graphically portrayed, the plot is character driven all the way with incredible little sidelines and sidebars thrown in to add to the concoction. (One scene of a drunken brawl played to a beautiful opera piece comes to mind.) Danielle Proulx, who portrays the mother, does not have much dialogue (typical of the era) but when she does speak it packs a wallop. She has a wonderful scene with Gervais where they discuss anal sex and a couple of others where her psychic ties to her son Zac are evident but never discussed. The film just gets under your skin, you are there, in that microcosm of time when the world was changing so drastically and we just didn't know it. 9 out of 10. Take a bow Jean-Marc Vallée; you have an absolutely amazing talent! Bravo to the entire cast and crew. Movies are a pleasure when they're this special, and yes, I would see it again.