Review of Crazy (2000) by Paul V — 19 Jun 2010

Billed as a 'gay movie,' C.R.A.Z.Y. is really just an elegant, realistic and compelling family drama which hones in mainly on the third Bealieu son, Zac, who happens to be homosexual.

Zac is born on Christmas Day 1960, and much of the film plays out as his early birthday parties do: with Zac overlooked, misunderstood, or both. His mother believes he's gifted by the grace of God with healing powers, while his father, Gervais, refuses to accept that his fourth son is anything but normal. Meanwhile, Zac's second-oldest brother, Raymond, is in and out of various drug addictions, resulting in his own issues with his family. The movie follows their lives all the way through the 80's, beautifully capturing the ups and downs, ins and outs, humor and heartbreak, and every other things that comes with being part of a family.

Superbly shot and edited, and boasting a great soundtrack and all-around terrific performances on top of the engrossing, accessible plot, I did have one major issue with the movie: the title of the film is an acronym of the names of the five brothers; Christian, Raymond, Anthony, Zac and Yvan. Despite this, only Raymond and Zac are explored at all. The other three brothers are nothing more than names with a few random character traits, and the extent of their respective roles are to get married so that there can be another scene with the whole family present once everyone's grown up, virtually nothing at all, and to be the only chubby brother, whom Raymond calls 'Fatty.' The mother is also somewhat of a one-note character, though she has the advantage over her three all-but-completely-footnoted sons of much more screentime, and of being the voice of reason opposing the intolerance of Gervais. He, on the other hand, like Zac and Raymond, has a full character arc, and grows much throughout the film.

C.R.A.Z.Y. is the first foreign film I've watched in quite some time, and only the second gay movie that I can recall having seen (the other being the excellent 2008 drama, Milk), and I enjoyed it immensely. Though it does suffer from its focusing only on three main characters (Zac, Raymond and Gervais) when I feel it ought to have been more of an ensemble piece, it remains a powerful, emotionally gripping work about the life of a family, and the pains of growing up in one, and figuring out who you are both inside of and out of it.