Comedy Drama
You can bury life and death but you can't bury freedom.
CRAZY IN ALABAMA is a movie about freedom. The film deals with a woman's individual freedom and the freedom of a people. It is the summer of 1965 a volalile time in the south and a volatile time in the life of Lucille played by Melanie Griffith. This is the first film directed by Melanie Griffith's husband
Our main characters in this film are...Peejoe (Lucas Black, American Gothic, Slingblade), Lucille's nephew who also narrates the story.
Peejoe's Uncle Dove Bullis is also Lucille's mortician brother. He is played by David Morse
Cathy Moriarty plays Dove's wife, Earlene, who is woman caught in the turmoil of her feelings between what she really feels and what her community tells her to feel.
The dastardly villian is society, represented by the local bigoted sheriff, John Doggett, played by MeatLoaf Aday
The hero and the adjutant of societies laws and morals is Judge Mead played by, Rod Steiger. He is the typical stereotyped down south judge who just lights up the screen when he is on camera.
Young Louis Miller, Jr., who plays the role of Taylor Jackson, the young black boy who's death starts lights a spark in this small town which solidifies the civil rights movement and also turns many whites to their cause.
Robert Wagner plays Lucille's Hollwood agent Harry Hall who sees her not only as an actress but as a love interest.
Finally John Beasley plays Nehemiah Jackson, a black mortician and friend of Uncle Dove. He leads the civil rights movement when his son, Taylor, is murdered by Sheriff Doggett.
All these people add their styles and touches to make CRAZY IN ALABAMA an wonderful film that should not be missed when it plays in your town. It will not only make you laugh but it will make you think about the everyday things we take for granted. It may even make you think about your own life and prejudices. After I saw this film I went home and bought my wife some flowers and wrote her a letter to tell her how much I loved her. I also wanted to her to know that I appreciated everything she has done for us. You may feel the same way after seeing this movie. I hope you will walk out thinking about what you have seen.
"He said no when he should have said yes, so I killed him and I cut off his head"
The movie starts with Aunt Lucille telling Peejoe that she is leaving because she killed her husband. She is off to Hollywood to act in the TV show, BEWITCHED. She goes drives off on her adventure and she does have quite a few on her way to Hollywood. She has a travelling companion who occasionally talks to her, her husbands head in a stay fresh tupperware container. There is a reason she has the head with her but that comes out later. Meanwhile Peejoe and his brother move in with Uncle Dove in town. There he sees protests of black people being prevented from registering to vote. He eventually meets Taylor Jackson a young black boy who goes in to swim in the public swimming pool which is for whites only. After he is chased out he returns with lots of friends and stagesa non violent sit in protest at the gates. Sherriff Doggett and his men come to remove them but they only want to teach them a lesson. Things get out of hand as the white lawmen beat the children. Taylor is killed by Doggett whiole the young boy tries to escape. Peejoe is a witness to it all. From that day on he stands true to his feelings and marches and helps the civil rights movement. Uncle Dove is also a man who feels things are wrong in his town. Nehemiah Jackson, the black mortician, is his friend and he must tell him that his son was killed. Peejoe tells them both that the sheriff murdered Taylor. Uncle Dove realizes he must do something.
The two stories bounce back and forth until eventually, as they must, come together in a superb courthouse scene that explains everything. Truths come out and for once, even if it seems a bit far fetched, justice not the law is served. Steiger is absoluely great as Judge Mead. He says things that I have always wanted to hear in a courtroom scene.
The civil right storylines have always bothered me because being Canadian I have always found it hard to understand how an enlightend people who fought for their own freedom could ever conceive of the idea of enslaving another race. It has always been beyond me. I know that prejudice exists everywhere but it is still hard to accept. When I was young my best friend was black and his parents were a mixed marriage couple, so, to me I never saw what the big deal was. My parents never told me different and he was like part of the family as I was part of his. The civil rights movement temporarily changed him and I remember getting angry at him because he called me something that was below him. It was a phase that eventually went away. We were friends after all. I bring this up because CRAZY IN ALABAMA is the kind of film that will bring up buried memories.
Lucille's courtroom speech about her slow death with her husband is absolutely wonderful and may bring a tear to the eye. Freedom, the movie shows, is not something that has to do with races or cultures. Freedom is about people; if it is to work, it first has to work for the individual. Isn't it great that we have the freedom to enjoy a film like this. Appreciate it and feel good about it. See this film, you'll be glad you did.
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