C.R.A.Z.Y. (Crazy) (2005)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Josh M

  
  CRAZY is one of the finest films ever produced in Canada, let alone French Canada. It is note and picture perfect. Above all else, this is a family movie, albeit not one for very young kids. Jean Marc Vallee is a prodigy and a visual and editing genius. The cast are wall to wall… More
  CRAZY is one of the finest films ever produced in Canada, let alone French Canada. It is note and picture perfect. Above all else, this is a family movie, albeit not one for very young kids. Jean Marc Vallee is a prodigy and a visual and editing genius. The cast are wall to wall superb, but the performances of Michel Cote and Danielle Proulx as the loving, working class parents of a brood of five boys are deep, funny, and profoundly human. The subtle, handsome and charismatic Marc-Andre Grondin as Zac, the sexually confused protagonist has a huge future ahead of him. On paper, this may look like a 'coming of age' or 'coming out' movie about growing up gay, and that is indeed the main conflict of the film. However, the family, all of them, are a living, breathing, loving and flawed unit. The sexual identity theme is incidental to what is a much larger and more meaningful message about family, love and acceptance. What Vallee shows in his script is an empathy and understanding of a wide array of different points of view; generations, and varying levels of self-awareness. The 60s and 70s setting, (this is my own era, so I'm qualified) is staged in a completely convincing, organic and restrained way. It's never cheesy or ironic nostalgia. The songs by Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Charles Aznavour and especially Patsy Cline are contextually perfect, and support the drama and characters seamlessly. Valee's occasional flights of fancy and surrealism are just the right amount of seasoning to a mostly realistic film, but are never excessive. The 'Sympathy for the Devil' dream sequence is celebratory, joyful and extremely pertinent to a changing society, (in particular a changing Quebec which at the time is abruptly transitioning away from the dominant influence of the Catholic church). I could not recommend this film highly enough. It lives in the same pantheon as coming of age cinema classics like 'The 400 Blows', 'Fanny and Alexander' or 'My Life as a Dog', in my humble opinion. Don't miss it.

• Thomas J

  
  Very strong performances in the story of one boy trying to find himself in a family in a loving but dysfunctional family. Seeing a story similar to my own in a different culture was nice for me as well.

• Lady D

  
  The most impressive part of this film I feel is that it didn't need lots of explicit footage to tell the tale, nor did it focus totally on the Sexual element as such, but more of the every day things of growing and discovering his sexuality through variences in the people around… More
  The most impressive part of this film I feel is that it didn't need lots of explicit footage to tell the tale, nor did it focus totally on the Sexual element as such, but more of the every day things of growing and discovering his sexuality through variences in the people around him and also the attitudes of those close. Cleverly working it's way from Birth to present day you really feel you see the character grow and develop before your eyes.

• Wahida K

  
  Growing up in this family, you'd have to be... C.R.A.Z.Y.

• Mike S

  
  Never did I expect a Canadian family drama to be so highly enjoyable. Immediately from its first scenes it pulled me right in, placing me in a state of fascination for its very tangible and well-written characters. A feeling which gratefully would come to last throughout the entire… More
  Never did I expect a Canadian family drama to be so highly enjoyable. Immediately from its first scenes it pulled me right in, placing me in a state of fascination for its very tangible and well-written characters. A feeling which gratefully would come to last throughout the entire plot. Besides the qualitative writing, the true forte of this movie lies in its outstanding directing. Not since "Amelie from Montmartre" have I been treated to such a heavenly combo of good storytelling and visual superbness. At least, not as it comes to non-Hollywood productions. All in all a must-see if you're in the mood for a great foreign-language film. Or as the french-canadians would say: Très bien!

• _kelly .

  
  Extremely well acted. Liking the fact that the director is making the effort to produce a cinematically engaging film in addition to chucking emotions at us. The imagery is effective where the plot is at times bare and too calculated. Also the most deceptive titling I've come… More
  Extremely well acted. Liking the fact that the director is making the effort to produce a cinematically engaging film in addition to chucking emotions at us. The imagery is effective where the plot is at times bare and too calculated. Also the most deceptive titling I've come across in a while, though I like that there is actually thought and repeating theme creating the odd title. It's on loads of my "recommended to you" lists, so when I pulled it up randomly out of the file fray, I was expecting a 70s American exploitation film. I didn't know I was gonna get a modern French film set in the 70s that exploits one character's "coming of out" plot to drive its main character changes. The sternness of the father is as compelling as say, Ma Vie en Rose, but the film is too tied up on Zac's sexuality, causing little attention to be paid to three of the five brothers (and their names make the title). The cinematic devices and music are happenin' but this just ain't "Breakfast on Pluto". The script is a facade of neatness, but with no real chunky thematic backbone to it. Some themes are overtly played with, but there is no emotion from the characters and story alone (without the sappy music and speed tampering shots). Worth a watch, but at the end of the day, just doesn't feel real or unreal enough to work. Falls into that obvious area in between - undeniably fictional drama.

• Jennifer X

  
  sometimes made me cry, or laugh, or fall asleep. very uneven movie and even as i was sucked into the more emotional areas in the movie i was unsure of what to feel.

• meril l

  
  Another excellent gay movie. The transitions between time periods were flawless and unnoticeable. The actors were brilliant. They must have spent a small fortune on the music. Fascinating.

• Daniel P

  
  Absolutely stunning film, telling the story of Zac and his family of four older brothers, mother and father over 25 years from his birth in 1960. I have so many superlatives for this film I risk spouting hyperbole, but this is truly a terrific piece of work. <p>Zac, born on… More
  Absolutely stunning film, telling the story of Zac and his family of four older brothers, mother and father over 25 years from his birth in 1960. I have so many superlatives for this film I risk spouting hyperbole, but this is truly a terrific piece of work. <p>Zac, born on Christmas day, grows up in a Catholic family (and his mother is convinced that that his date of birth means he has powers to heal the sick) feeling isolated, an outcast - he feels inexplicably different and longs only to fit in. As a child, Zac seems to be favored by his father but as he enters his teens there's a key shift change in their relationship and things are never the same. <p>This has to be one of the most successful coming of age films, and more specifically, coming out films I have ever seen. <i>C.R.A.Z.Y.</i> features an exceptional performance from Marc-André Frondin as Zac, who convinces as a 15 year old right up until his mid twenties, inspired direction, with an array of camera and effects techniques that never grow tired and avoid pastiche, a perfect soundtrack (Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Patsy Kline, Pink Floyd) and a resonant, moving story. Gripping from beginning to end credits, the film finishes on a hopeful note that feels genuinely earned. *Love* it.

• Lauren D

  
  I decided one day to pick a random movie on Foxtel and watch it without reading anything about it. This was the movie I chose. Originally I was just going to watch the first five minutes and then go play Sims 2, as I was sitting out there deciding on names for my Prosperity Challenge… More
  I decided one day to pick a random movie on Foxtel and watch it without reading anything about it. This was the movie I chose. Originally I was just going to watch the first five minutes and then go play Sims 2, as I was sitting out there deciding on names for my Prosperity Challenge (hence why most of the names of the Sims in that challenge come from this movie). Anyway, although it seemed kind of disjointed and random, I did enjoy it. But I am bias towards movies containing gay themes, as I love gay movies (yeah I don't know).

• Marion R

  
  I really liked this. A story in which you actually care about the characters and what happens to them. Great acting, fantastic story, really cool direction. So well paced, just become one of my favorites.

• Sunil J

  
  Not very realistic at all but nice.

• Dimitris S

  
  A fine story about the repressing teen.Well,it's more.A generation of freedom and libertarian ideas.Progressive and the movie does support that.I wish it could be a little less repetitive on the father-son relationship and the whole "queer" obstacle was more or less… More
  A fine story about the repressing teen.Well,it's more.A generation of freedom and libertarian ideas.Progressive and the movie does support that.I wish it could be a little less repetitive on the father-son relationship and the whole "queer" obstacle was more or less conservative at times instead being on an open side.Fabulous soundtrack though and Grondin looks promising on the lead role.

• MJS M

  
  A French-Canadian film about a family coming together over the course of thirty years. The film focuses on Zac a young man trying to come to terms with his homosexuality, his criminal brother, his intolerant father and his waning Catholicism. The film is very creatively constructed… More
  A French-Canadian film about a family coming together over the course of thirty years. The film focuses on Zac a young man trying to come to terms with his homosexuality, his criminal brother, his intolerant father and his waning Catholicism. The film is very creatively constructed and is able to effectively move through decades in a natural way. There are a lot of neat visual tricks, but it?s never style over substance. The film has a particularly good classic rock soundtrack, there?s a great scene midway through where the main character begins to envision a church congregation start singing along to ?Sympathy for the Devil? as he begins to float above them. The film has a title that is not very good as far making viewer want to watch, but the film is in fact quiet good.

• Patrick D

  
  I saw this in theatres and loved it. I bought a used copy after it came out and didn't watch it for over a year. I don't know why I avoided it. This film is really great, and it's not really my thing, but I love it. It's a life story a coming of age deal, but also… More
  I saw this in theatres and loved it. I bought a used copy after it came out and didn't watch it for over a year. I don't know why I avoided it. This film is really great, and it's not really my thing, but I love it. It's a life story a coming of age deal, but also an epic journey of sorts. It has usual conventions of it's type but enough liberties and artsy farts to keep a guy like me engaged. One problem is that because many people in Canada and the US (and I am making a HUGE generalization here, but this is what I see around me) are afraid of subtitles, and really Ottawans have no excuse, we're practically a hop skip and a jump from Quebec, the province where this great film was made, hence we should embrace the language and if we are afraid of reading subtitles when we watch films we should learn the language. This is one of the great things I love about French language films is that I have an intemediate level grasp of the language already so the subtitles are just helpers at times. Although I am not afraid of fully reading subs either....and I'm going on a tangent.

• Janice :

  
  Amazing movie on the life of 5 boys, all more different than the next... one problem: Zachary. Why? He's homosexual... This is a great movie on father-son relationships and the discovery of oneself, but also accepting that we are different, or at least, not the victims of a… More
  Amazing movie on the life of 5 boys, all more different than the next... one problem: Zachary. Why? He's homosexual... This is a great movie on father-son relationships and the discovery of oneself, but also accepting that we are different, or at least, not the victims of a terrible anomaly. Oh and it's great because it's from quebec (hahaha jk).. so sit back, relax and enjoy + indulge in Zachary because that's the only movie where he looks decent.

• Wu C

  
  Best Canadian film ever! Must see.

• Laurence C

  
  A touching, perfectly acted and well-directed masterpiece that'll remain among Québec's best films for decades. C.R.A.Z.Y hits the right note.

Read all 18 featured audience ratings