Product: Crazy in Alabama [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 2.0
Crazy behind the camera in Southern fried soap opera
Whatever became of It "Working Girl" Melanie Griffith,who defeated her rival Sigourney Weaver and won the heart of Harrison Ford? She married the younger Antonio Banderas,who decided to direct her as a quirky killer housewife turned Hollywood diva."Crazy in Alabama" is a bizarre blend of two stories-a housewife who killed her husband&flees; to Hollywood,and that of a young Southern boy who is a witness to racial tensions and participates in the civil rights struggle of the '60s. The stories could've been melded well;instead,there is a constant,choppy bouncing between them.The voice-overs of the housewife (Griffith) and the boy (Lucas Black) are intrusive,an excuse for the director to tell instead of show.It's also heavy-handed. The housewife also carries her husband's head in a hatbox for most of the movie--which doesn't make sense. It's never explained why she's dragging the evidence of her murder everywhere she goes. The young boy's interracial friendship-and his growing maturity-could have been touching.His story is more compelling;Lucas Black is a talented young actor.He's convincing in his character's growth. There are excuses for celebrity cameos from Meat Loaf,Robert Wagner,George Foreman and Rod Steiger;but it doesn't further the movie. Melanie Griffith isn't convincing as an abused housewife or a mother of a large family;she's barely shown with her children,and there's no emotional connection. Instead,she plays a Southern belle Auntie Mame;campy,a drama queen,all glitter without substance."Crazy in Alabama" has only two redeeming points-the soundtrack is wonderful and the civil rights plot,while good,could've been handled better. As Antonio Banderas' directing debut,it's no wonder he now only promotes his perfume/cologne line and voices Puss in Boots for the Shrek movies.