Mega-promoter Colin Beverly plans to sabotage the New Year's 1983 concert of small-time operator Max Wolfe. Wolfe's assistants Neil Allen and Willie Loman find romance while trying to save the drugs, violence, and rock and roll from Beverly's schemes.
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The music selected for this movie is just perfect. Don't expect to be watching a serious movie and you may have to watch it more then once to "get it". I'm very disappointed that it's not a bigger classic, and I hope a sequel is never made (can't stand sequels personally, they always seem to ruin the original). There are drug references but done in a very funny (meant to be stupid) manner. Don't expect Cheech & Chong type drug references, it's not a Cheech & Chong movie. If you made it through you twenties without seeing this you missed out. I've personally rang in quite a few new years with this movie. And now that I got at least one teen it's time to start ring in some more new years with this movie. Would like to share more, but I hate giving clues to movies.
"Get Crazy" is as '80s as a Flock Of Seagulls haircut or a Ms. Pac Man machine, but when people talk about the decade, for some strange reason it's off everyone's radar screen. No one mentions it when you talk about cool '80s cinema, but it's better than a pack of "Fast Times" or a pair of "Breakfast Clubs" for my money.It's a rare thing to see three such beauties as Gail Edwards, Stacy Nelkin, and Anna Bjorn all adorning the same film, but who on Earth in 1983 could have thought it would be the career highpoint for all three of them? Why isn't Malcolm McDowell's fantastically hilarious Mick Jagger send-up as celebrated as Bill Murray's Carl Spackler in "Caddyshack?" What more evidence do you need that life's unfair! How about one of the zaniest films since "Hard Day's Night" celebrating rock 'n roll passing though the chasm of time with barely a whisper of recognition? Ouch!Okay, I'm through ranting. Since you are reading this, you don't deserve this spiel. You care enough to look through these reviews. Perhaps you even managed to find a copy of the film, which may be like climbing K2 for video collectors, forget DVD. Here's why "Get Crazy" is worth your time.1. Killer songs - "Hot Shot" and "Take It No More" are pretty boss send-ups of hard rock and new wave from the period. The latter even has some great Shirelles-style harmonies and sax breaks, very B52s.2. Spot-on sendups - McDowell is great as Reggie, even his last name is a funny dig at the head Stone. Strutting onstage with a giant codpiece and frilly tunic, McDowell has a lot of fun playing it very silly for a change, and the results suit him. It's great to see such a fine actor cutting up.3. Goofy set pieces - I like the bit where King Blues is at the graveyard ceremony for his blues musician friend, and every other mourner is blind! Or when Reggie prods his girlfriend with a lobster claw. When we first see Lou Reed as the Dylan send-up Auden, he's lounging in the same pose and background as Dylan's "Bringing It All Back Home" album cover except everything's covered in cobwebs, including the girl with the ciggie! You have to watch this film a few times to pick up even most of the craziness.4. Political incorrectness - You want sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll? "Get Crazy" has it. There's walking joints, ganja so potent it can suspend 220-pound blues legends in midair, and a strange thin man with no face and a suitcase stocked with pharmaceutical cornucopia. And plenty of nudity, even one actress in a bathtub playing a high school girl. Yet you can't really hold it against "Get Crazy," because the sex and drugs are there for jokes rather than titillation, sending up the lifestyle we all associate with the music.5. Relevance to the time - The 80s were the decade of greed and ugly silver-plastic pants, so who is a better movie villain than Colin Beverly? He's played to perfection by Ed Begley Jr., star of such sleazy late-night R-rated period fare as "Private Lessons" and "Eating Raoul" and just oozing corruption from every pore. The clash of cultures between Beverly and Allan Garfield's idealistic Max Wolfe, owner of the Saturn Theater and hero of our story, makes for a nice microcosm of the period. It's like Michael Douglas taking on Martin Sheen in "Wall Street," only with some drop-dead bass guitar underneath. And then there's the other culture clash, that of New Wave performer Nada (Lori Eastside crossing Joan Jett with Toni Basil) and McDowell's take on Jagger's "Emotional Rescue" period, including a Keef substitute in John Densmore playing drums."Get Crazy" can be sad to watch. The director, Allan Arkush, had a lot of talent we never really got to see again because of this film's unfair fate. Likewise, it has too many good actors who never got another serious chance. There's also an eerie opening where Wolfe, riding a flying machine, crashes into an electrical apparatus, which is exactly how Wolfe's real-life basis Bill Graham died years later.But otherwise this film is just a ton of fun, a time capsule that hasn't gotten a minute older for all the New Years that have passed between then and now.
I saw this movie, many years ago, during the Christmas season. I remember feeling very bored while waiting for my woman to get home, and being willing to try just about any movie. When I found that Lou Reed was a star, I had no doubt that I was not wasting my time. Sure, it was silly, and even a bit affected (or over the top, camp), but some movies are simply meant to entertain a specific market (or type of viewer). In this case, I would say that this is a musician's movie, not because there is so much good music, but because it parodies that "rock and roll" lifestyle.My favourite parts are, Lou Reed's journey while writing the song (I believe that the journey is supposed to be influencing it, but "Death Bed Request" is not a real song, as far as I know), and the dog being kicked across the room, by the person whom I believe to be the antagonist.
I laughed my butt off when I first saw this flick in college. The parodies of famous rock stars (courtesy of Malcolm McDowell), punk rock, and blues artists was very well done. The drug jokes (one guy sneaking into the theatre dressed as a joint, the magic water) were absolutely hilarious for their time. One of my favorites was when several different versions of "Hoochie Coochie Man" were performed onstage. King Blues opened the set with a Jewish backup band; I rolled on the floor laughing as Blues was frustrated over the band sent to perform with him. Once King Blues was finished, the band Nada (featuring Lee Ving as Piggy) blitzed their way through a fast, furious, and very impassioned rendition. Piggy was a definite show-stealer as Nada'a masochistic lead singer! Ah, then Reggie Wanker steps onstage and does his slick version. The Wanker almost falls flat but is saved by a ripping drum solo by Doors beatmeister John Densmore. Another scene which got me laughing was when Reggie Wanker started listening to his private member...I always thought listening to IT would get me in trouble, but it saved Wanker's career! Lou Reed, in a Dylanesque role, was wonderful as the singer/songwriter Auden who uses the scenic route on a cab to give him inspiration for his music. Don't try to think your way through this movie...just sit back, put your mind on cruise control, and enjoy the ride!!!