Review of Crazy on the Outside (2010) by Bob M — 09 Jun 2010

Quick quiz: Do you like Tim Allen's comedic schtick? If your answer is no, jump over this review to a review of a movie you might like to see because you probably won't like this one. However, if your answer is yes, then you'll probably see why I thought this light comedy is worth seeing.

The story is fairly basic, Tommy (Allen himself) has been released from prison after spending 3 years there for counterfeiting movie DVDs (horror!). He goes to live with his sister Viki (Sigourney Weaver) who avoids conflict by habitually lying. Viki has already told their mother that Tommy had gone to France for the past three years. This joke gets milked but I thought fairly effectively. His mother actually learned French and doesn't understand why Viki has to translate for Tommy since he doesn't understand a word of it.

He tries to find his old girl friend Christy (Julie Bowen , the wonderful Claire Dunphy from the current TV hit Modern Family!). Of course Viki has already told Tommy Christy died while he was in prison. In actuality, she's gold-digging in a new relationship with TV pitchman Frank (Kelsey Grammer). While he pines for Christy, Tommy becomes attracted to his parole officer (not highly original for certain). As things get bad, he considers returning to his life of crime with Gray (Ray Liotta). Viki already thinks her brother has already had a whole lotta Liotta and does what she can to stop Tommy's return to crime.

Allen directed this film himself so it really is his movie. I enjoyed the ensemble cast who did a creditable job making the movie enjoyable despite a warm-feeling yet commonplace script. Tim the Toolman has not wandered far from his old TV sitcom roots but as I mentioned at the beginning, if you liked that you should enjoy Allen's craziness on the outside......