Review of Crimewave (1985) by Harry W — 18 Jun 2014

Infamous for its troubled production and featuring Sam Raimi as director and the always-magnificent Bruce Campbell, Crimewave was definitely worth a viewing.

I wouldn't say that Crimewave was a good film because it had a difficult production, a lot of ambition and severe studio interference which clearly contributed to the downfall of its quality by piling up. It was not a perfect film from the start, but it is clear that studio tampering has laid down quite a negative effect on the film..

For one thing, the lead role in the film should have been given to Bruce Campbell. Although Reed Birney does what he can with the part, he seems more like a neurotic nebbish than a B-movie hero, and so instead of taking the original angle on the story he turns protagonist Victor Ajax into a Woody Allen-esq character for the majority of the film. Woody Allen style comedy and Sam Raimi comedy do not go hand in hand in this hybrid of genres, so although Reed Birney makes a decent effort and has his moments, he is miscast as the lead in Crimewave.

And there are a few minor technical issues in the film such as scenes in which the editing falters. I cannot tell if this is intentional or not, but considering the editing was executed by the studio I would say that it is their fault for not recognising the issues. There are parts of the film where shots have to be repeated or reversed, and quite a few times the audio dubbing is poor. So the editing in Crimewave is a problem, and if the role was given to The Coen Brothers it would have been a lot more sensible.

The main thing that makes Crimewave a memorable film is the fact that it is such an odd hybrid of genres. It has elements of film noir, slapstick comedy and drama to it, almost to the point where it is overwhelming. Some of the time I couldn't tell whether to take the film seriously or not even though it was clearly intended for the laughing value, and the general dark elements of the film were a bit wack. Usually, slapstick comedies have to have a light nature, but the musical score in Crimewave seems to be in there to dramatize things and give it all an intense impression. Crimewave uneasily mixes the genres in, and although as a whole it would be defined as a dark comedy, the film only proves to be sporadically funny. It had a few good moments courtesy of characters being flung around in physical gags, but the general dialogue of the film felt artificial, and so as a whole Crimewave felt more like a novelty. Crimewave doesn't feel much like a movie, it feels like an energetic television special and is likely to experience greater success for such a reason because it is not one of Sam Raimi's greater projects. But I will say that it was a bold move for both him and The Coen Brothers to go out and attempt a project like this because it combines the dated genres of film noir with the classical comedic style of slapstick comedy, and in that sense it provides a certain sense of humourous nostalgia to a lot of viewers, particularly those familiar with the genre and favouring of it. I'll admit that the wacky energy of the film and its style did manage to give some appeal to it since Sam Raimi's iconic visual style makes the project a stylish one, but as a whole the film is not good. It isn't as bad as some people would say and did not deserve to bomb so hard at box office, and who knows how good it could have been if studios had kept their noses out of it, but the best thing it really presents is just potential and a few laughs at the humour which would be characterised as spoof comedy by today's standards, but nothing else.

The visual style of Crimewave is innovative though. I mean the setting feels genuine, and the cheap visual elements have some silly fun to it since they present quite a bit of colour. The cinematography techniques in the film are interesting as well because they follow a very classical film style and makes Crimewave seem as if it was actually crafted by people who lived through the golden age of film noir. The serious nature of the film's noir elements against the backdrop of a lot of silly slapstick humour managed to create a few laughs here and there and eventually made the film interesting once it stoped messing around and got on a consistent narrative path. Although the experience is a little convoluted, if you examine it more as a series of comedic sketches than as a single narrative story then you are more likely to find enjoyment in the film.

Crimewave is a film that would benefit from being lighter in nature, because although some of the noir elements give it a few good moments, as a whole they just make the film seem a little too dark and dramatic which means that it ends up taking itself more seriously than necessary. So the tone of the film is an issue, and the general atmosphere does not really point towards if the film wants to be a comedy or a drama. It isn't exactly balanced between these tones, and the general drama of the film is not compelling as the characters are thinly sketched comedic figures.

The only consistently positive element in Crimewave is the performance of Bruce Campbell. Although he should have gotten the lead role, his part is just perfect and he plays a man with an antagonistic nature fairly well. If I didn't love the man so much it would be too easy for me to dislike his character in Crimewave on the basis of his convincing performance, so the fact that Sam Raimi manages to ensure he still gets plenty of screentime is of serious benefit to the film.

But despite the presence of Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi and a few funny moments, Crimewave is too scattered and inconsistent to qualify as sufficient entertainment.