Movie Review: Crazy as Hell

Crazy as Hell (2002) 

Directed by Eriq LaSalle

Written by Jeremy Leven

Starring Michael Beach, Eriq LaSalle, Ronny Cox 

Release Date September 27th, 2002 

Published November 4th, 2002 

For eight years, Eriq LaSalle was best known for his sullen brooding performance as Dr. Peter Benton on NBC's ER. His rare big screen appearances are highlighted by a fascinating turn in the race drama The Drop Squad. In his directorial debut in Crazy As Hell LaSalle let's his hair down and delivers an over-the-top take on religion and race in a mental hospital.

Crazy As Hell tells the story of controversial psychiatrist Dr. Ty Adams (Another former ER actor, Michael Beach,). His non-medical approach to therapy has lead to the death of two patients but has seemingly helped more than it has hurt. Dr. Adams arrives at Sedah Psychiatric Hospital to an unwelcome glare from the facilities boss Dr. Delazo (Ronny Cox). Not only does Dr. Delazo disagree with Dr. Adams's form of therapy he is also unhappy about a documentary crew that has been installed in the hospital for thirty days to document Dr. Adams's unusual treatment. The documentary crew is headed up by the very engaging John C. McGinley.

A short time after Dr. Adams arrival, a new patient arrives. The patient is a large intimidating man who claims to be Satan himself (LaSalle). Having checked himself into the hospital voluntarily, Satan is not initially one of the doctor's patients.

Dr. Adams meanwhile is haunted by his past in which his wife and child were murdered and he believes it was his fault. Adams is plagued by visions of his late wife and has animated conversations with her that is picked up by the documentary cameras.

Dr. Adams's treatments from the start are aimed at one patient named Cheryl (Tracy Petit). Cheryl is a paranoid schizophrenic who doesn't speak to anyone. While on medication she is sedate and quiet. However under Dr. Adams's treatments, Cheryl is a screaming crying mess that refuses to leave her room. Despite Delazo's worries, she does begin to show some slow improvement. However, the little improvement that Dr. Adams makes with Cheryl is limited by the outbursts of Satan, who refuses to be ignored. He delights in interfering with Dr. Adams and teasing him with hints as to whether or not he really is who he says he is.

As a first time director, Eriq LaSalle shows a talent for atmospherics. His pacing could use some work as the film drags a little in the middle but the teasing aspects of the dialogue and performances are compelling enough to hold your interest.

One thing that LaSalle would benefit from is better casting. Michael Beach is a wooden performer of little charisma. He sells the dramatic aspects of the film as his character reveals a mental illness of his own induced by his wife's death. However, the interaction between Beach and LaSalle and Beach and Ronny Cox is stilted and unbelievable as they act circles around Beach. Beach's poor interaction with LaSalle and Cox seem like they are chewing scenery but in reality they are simply eating a scene around Beach because somebody had to make the scenes interesting.

If anything, Crazy As Hell shows the potential of a great filmmaker in Eriq LaSalle and I look forward to his next turn behind the camera.

Movie Review One Hour Photo

One Hour Photo (2002) 

Directed by Mark Romanek

Written by Mark Romanek 

Starring Robin Williams, Michael Vartan, Connie Nielsen, Gary Cole, Eriq LaSalle 

Release Date August 21st, 2002 

Published August 20th, 2002 

Director Mark Romanek cut his teeth on music videos for artists like Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, and En Vogue. Especially memorable was the video he directed for Fiona Apple's "Criminal." A controversial video with Fiona and others in varying states of undress, the video had an atmosphere that dripped with sexuality. In the "Criminal" video, Romanek used everything from costumes to the set's retro-seventies green carpet to create an atmosphere at once familiar but also forbidden.

Atmosphere is what makes Romanek's second feature film--his previous work was 1985's Static--One Hour Photo, a creepy glimpse inside the mind of the most mundane madman the screen has ever seen.

Robin Williams stars as Sy the Photo Guy, as his customers at the retail store SavMart call him. Sy is an affable photo shop employee who is overly dedicated to the quality of his customers' photos. He has worked in the photo shop long enough to know the names and addresses of his regular customers and through their photos he knows even more than they would want him to. 

There is a very effective scene early on where Sy, the narrator, introduces us to some of his regular customers including amateur porn guy--maybe the only guy creepier than Sy himself. Sy's favorite customers are the Yorkin family. Stay at home mom Nina (Connie Nielsen), 9 year old Jakob, and Will (Michael Vartan). As the film develops (bad pun) Sy's obsession with the Yorkin's grows.

What sounds like a typical suspense thriller setup is played much more simply. Romanek allows the story to unravel at its own pace. This gives Williams the opportunity to reveal his character in more unique and interesting ways than your average thriller usually does. Williams seizes every opportunity to make Sy more vulnerable and almost innocent, which makes him so much scarier. You don't sympathize with Sy, but he earns your pity easily. I really liked the way Williams and Romanek conveyed Sy's sense of feeling that he was doing the right thing, Sy never seems to rationalize what he does because he doesn't think he has to.

As great as Williams is in One Hour Photo, for me the film is all about Romanek, who crafts a film of both visual and intellectual depth. Romanek employs these sensational tracking shots of Sy walking down these sterile hallways and perfectly assembled shelves at SavMart, all of it with the camera trained on Sy's determined, creepy stare.

Also effective is the score, which seems, at times, to be running through Sy's head. The rhythm of the score seems at times to match Sy's emotion. An early scene that takes the camera inside the inner workings of a film-developing machine is like a trip inside Sy's mind. Even the things that Sy watches on television however mundane they are seem to dovetail with what Sy is thinking. All of it creates an atmosphere that has not been so well-evoked since the days of Hitchcock.

Others have said that the film is told in flashback as Sy explains what happened to a detective played by Eriq Lasalle. I have a different take. I think Sy was running all that happened back in his own mind. He never told the police anything, except at the end, when he hints at what motivated the actions that the police already know about.

While the ending is somewhat unsatisfactory, attempting to explain why Sy does what he does demystifies him too much. Nonetheless, One Hour Photo Is an awesome film with visuals that should be used in film schools as a teaching tool. This is one of the year's best films.