- Cool and the Crazy
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For the 1958 film, see The Cool and the Crazy.
Cool and the Crazy 
DVD cover.Genre Drama Directed by Ralph Bakshi Produced by Lou Arkoff
Debra Hill
Willie KutnerWritten by Ralph Bakshi Starring Jared Leto
Alicia Silverstone
Jennifer Blanc
Matthew FlintMusic by Hummie Mann Country 
United StatesLanguage English Original channel Showtime Original airing September 16, 1994 Running time 84 min. 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 separate affairs. The film was Ralph Bakshi's first and only feature-length live-action film, being primarily known as a director of animated films which heavily utilize live-action sequences, such as Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic, Wizards and The Lord of the Rings. Cool and the Crazy first aired on the cable television network Showtime in 1994 as part of the series Rebel Highway.
Contents
Plot
Joey, Frankie, and Crazy.
Roslyn, Joannie, Michael, and Bobby.High School sweethearts Michael and Rosy 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 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.
Cast
- Jared Leto ... Michael
- Alicia Silverstone ... Roslyn
- Jennifer Blanc ... Joannie
- Matthew Flint ... Joey
- Bradford Tatum ... Frankie
- Christine Harnos ... Lorraine
- Tuesday Knight ... Brenda
- Christian Frizzell ... Bobby
- John Hawkes ... Crazy
Production
Ralph Bakshi began developing Cool and the Crazy in the late 1960s under the title If I Catch Her, I'll Kill Her.[1] United Artists and Paramount Pictures each paid Bakshi to develop the film in the 1970s, but were unwilling to produce it, as were the studios Bakshi pitched the film to in the 1980s. According to Bakshi, "They thought that no one was going to admit that women can—and do—cheat on their husbands. They thought it was too hot, which made no sense."[1]
In 1993, Lou Arkoff, the son of Samuel Z. Arkoff, approached Bakshi to write and direct a low-budget feature for Showtime's Rebel Highway series. For the third time, Bakshi revisited his screenplay for If I Catch Her, I'll Kill Her, and retitled the film Cool and the Crazy.[1] Other directors whose films appeared on the series included William Friedkin, Joe Dante and Robert Rodriguez.[2][3] The film took its title from a 1958 exploitation film released by American International Pictures, but its plot bore no relation to the earlier film.[4]
Response
Variety reviewer Todd Everett wrote "the hyperdrive visual sense for which Bakshi's animated features have been noted. Everything in "Cool" [...] seems to exist in pastels and Bakshi shoots from more odd angles than any director since Sidney J. Furie in his heyday. And the closing sequences ably demonstrate how it's possible to present strong violence without any blood being shed onscreen. Bakshi pulls strong perfs from a cadre of youngish and largely unknown actors".[4]
References
- ^ a b c Gibson, Jon M.; McDonnell, Chris (2008). "Ups & Downs". Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. Universe Publishing. pp. 204; 209; 234. ISBN 0789316846.
- ^ Corliss, Richard (August 15, 1994). "I Was a Teenage Teenager". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981251,00.html. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
- ^ "REBEL HIGHWAY". BFI Film & TV Database. http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/24605. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
- ^ a b Everett, Todd (1996). "Review of Cool and the Crazy (September 16, 1994)". In Prouty. Variety and Daily Variety Television Reviews, 1993-1994. Volume 18. Taylor & Francis. pp. 16. ISBN 0824037979.
External links
- Cool and the Crazy at the Internet Movie Database
- Cool and the Crazy at AllRovi
- Cool and the Crazy at Ralph Bakshi.com
Ralph Bakshi Feature films Unfinished Theatrical shorts The Fuz · Mini-Squirts · Marvin Digs · Mouse TrekTelevision series Television features Television shorts This Ain't Bebop · Malcom and Melvin · Babe, He Calls MeCategories:- American drama films
- 1990s drama films
- English-language films
- Films directed by Ralph Bakshi
- Rebel Highway series
- 1994 television films
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