Still Crazy Review
by Michael Dequina (michael_jordan AT geocities DOT com)December 9th, 1998
_Still_Crazy_ (R) ** (out of ****)
Every year, at least one studio stages a one-week Academy qualifying engagement for a film that clearly has no prayer at snagging any nominations, let alone any awards. This year's most blatant example is this British comedy, which is certainly pleasant enough to watch but completely forgettable.
After the misfire of _The_Juror_, _The_Josephine_Baker_Story_ and _What's_Love_Got_to_Do_with_It_ director Brian Gibson returns to his musical roots--with considerably less success--for this formulaic tale about the reunion of (fictional) '70s rockers Strange Fruit (played by Stephen Rea, Jimmy Nail, Bill Nighy, and Timothy Spall). Naturally, the personality conflicts that led to the band's first breakup, namely that between Nail's soulful guitarist/backup singer and Nighy's vain lead singer, endanger the reunion's success and long-term prospects, but, as is the case of the recent crop of _Full_Monty_-ish feel-good Brit comedies, everything gets nicely tied up in the end. There are a few nice turns, especially by Nail and Juliet Aubrey (as the band's assistant), but most of the humor provided by scripters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais is less funny than plain silly, such as Nighy's stuck-in-the-glam-era stage antics and a running gag that has Spall constantly evading debt collectors. In short, _Still_Crazy_ is simply an average timekiller. (opens December 11)
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Michael Dequina
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