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Cool and the Crazy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cool and the Crazy | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover. |
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| Directed by | Ralph Bakshi |
| Produced by | Lou Arkoff Debra Hill Willie Kutner |
| Written by | Ralph Bakshi |
| Starring | Jennifer Blanc Matthew Flint Jared Leto Alicia Silverstone |
| Music by | Hummie Mann |
| Cinematography | Roberto Schaefer |
| Editing by | Larry Bock |
| Release date(s) |  September 16, 1994[1] |
| Running time | 84 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Cool and the Crazy is a 1994 film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi and starring Jared Leto and Alicia Silverstone as an unhappily married couple in the late 1950s who both lead seperate affairs. The film was Ralph Bakshi's first and only feature-length live-action film, being primarily known as a director of animated films, such as Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic, Coonskin and Hey Good Lookin'. Although the filmmaker employed live-action quite heavily in his early feature films (most notably Heavy Traffic), his only entirely live-action effort prior to Cool and the Crazy was the 1989 short film This Ain't Bebop, which starred Harvey Keitel.[2]
Cool and the Crazy first aired on the cable television network Showtime in 1994 as part of the series Rebel Highway, a short-lived revival of American International Pictures by producers Lou Arkoff (son of Samuel Z. Arkoff) and Debra Hill (best known as the cowriter of the horror film Halloween). Other directors whose films appeared on the series included William Friedkin, Joe Dante and Robert Rodriguez.[3][4] The original title of the film's screenplay was When I Catch Her I'll Kill Her.[1] The released title borrows from the 1958 American International release The Cool and the Crazy, an exploitation film about juvenile delinquency. The plot of Bakshi's film is entirely unconnected to the earlier film.[5]
Contents |
High School sweethearts Michael and Roslyn happily marry during the 1950s, both 18. Things go along smoothly until Roslyn gets pregnant, at age 19. The bills pile up and the two grow apart from each other. Roslyn spends most of the time taking care of their child and hanging out with her best friend, Joannie, who's married to a guy named Bobby. Joannie's been cheating on her husband with a man named Frankie. Roslyn is introduced to Frankie's friend, Joey, a bad boy who's also married. Immediately, Roslyn begins an affair with Joey. At first Michael doesn't suspect anything, but when the two girl friends go out at night and come back later and later, it dawns on him that they are both having affairs. Michael works at a design company with Lorraine, who's into the Beat and jazz scenes. One night, he goes out to have an affair with her. The next morning, however, his uptight attitudes causes him to back out of the affair when he learns that he's not her only lover. Eventually Lorraine leaves to go to New York. At the same time, Roslyn's trying to break off her affair with Joey, but he won't give up that easily. Varied events soon escalate in violence. Joey kidnaps Roslyn, and Michael goes after them, and takes his wife back from him. Michael and Roslyn go their separate ways, and Michael hits the road. A series of black and white photographs from the film's production are shown in a montage that plays before the credits begin.
- Jennifer Blanc ... Joannie
- Matthew Flint ... Joey
- Jared Leto ... Michael
- Alicia Silverstone ... Roslyn
- Bradford Tatum ... Frankie
- Christine Harnos ... Lorraine
- Tuesday Knight ... Brenda
- Christian Frizzell ... Bobby
- John Hawkes ... Crazy
According to Bakshi, he intended to make When I Catch Her I'll Kill Her as his first theatrically-released film, but the studio he originally pitched the story to thought that the material was "too hot."[6] "A story about women cheating on their husband[s] was too far out at that time for some reason." Later on in his career, he submitted the screenplay with minor changes and the film went into production.[6] Bakshi originally wanted to shoot the film in Brooklyn, but was forced to shoot in Los Angeles instead.[6] Of the casting, Bakshi states "Christopher Walken was meant to play the villain. But the guys we got were right for the parts."[6] Bakshi did make another feature film until 11 years later, when he announced that he would begin production on an animated film, Last Days of Coney Island.
- ^ a b Release info for Cool and the Crazy (1994). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
- ^ This Ain't Bebop (1989). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
- ^ Corliss, Richard (August 15, 1994). I Was a Teenage Teenager. Time. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
- ^ REBEL HIGHWAY. BFI Film & TV Database. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
- ^ The Cool and the Crazy (1958). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
- ^ a b c d Bakshi Board Exlusive Interview #8. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
- Cool and the Crazy at the Internet Movie Database
- Cool and the Crazy at Ralph Bakshi.com
- Cool and the Crazy at Movie Tome
Feature films: Fritz the Cat • Heavy Traffic • Coonskin • Wizards • J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings • American Pop • Hey Good Lookin' • Fire and Ice • Cool World • Cool and the Crazy • Last Days of Coney Island
Short films: This Ain't Bebop •Malcom and Melvin •Babe, He Calls Me
TV series: The Mighty Heroes • Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures • Spicy City
TV specials: Christmas in Tattertown • The Butter Battle Book