By: debbie lynn elias
What initially strikes one about CRAZY EYES is, in fact, the eyes of its two stars, Lukas Haas and Madeline Zima – big, round, expressive and at the same time, often vacant and distant – making them the perfect windows into the souls and lives of characters. And while as we delve into the film, we learn the phrase CRAZY EYES is the nickname given by Haas’ character Zach to Zima’s Rebecca, it also becomes apparent that CRAZY EYES is also very metaphoric and representative for the filmmaker’s point of view.
Written and directed by Adam Sherman, CRAZY EYES is a “98% autobiographical” slice of life set in the world of a young man named Zach. Extremely wealthy (from what, we never learn), his life is in many ways vampyric as he prowls the bars and clubs, picks up girls and imbibes an inordinate amount of liquor and illegal drugs by night and then sleeps by day, only to awaken in time to start the cycle of self-destruction again. Divorced and a father to a young son whom he rarely sees, Zach is a loner. Quiet, introverted, even mysterious to a degree, he rarely shows emotion, but when he does it, it is in the form of anger and rage. His “normal” state is such that he gives the sense that he is forcing himself into a state of calm or numbness. He has but one true friend, bartender Dan Drake – an outgoing, happy-go-lucky and actually, pragmatic person who values the benefits of hard work and friendship. And Zach currently has one obsession – a young woman named Rebecca aka Crazy Eyes, so named by him thanks to her large brown eyes. But why “obsession”? Because while Rebecca is more than happy to subscribe to and participate in Zach’s existence of drink, drank drunk, drugged, fall down, pass out, and more than happy to reap the benefits of Zach’s free-wheeling spending on drugs and alcohol, she refuses to have sex with him.
So disconnected from the world, Zach has no concept of time or dates, thus forgetting his custodial time with his son (and when he does have him, he’s passed out in bed with a hangover and not engaging with the boy) and even forgetting Thanksgiving and his own parents. The only connection Zach has to the world is through a bottle, be it alcohol, pills, cocaine, or all combined. And Crazy Eyes is the perfect bedfellow to this world.
As he is so good at doing, Lukas Haas maintains an even, droll, unemotional, detached persona throughout the film. He has always had that lost, soulful, drugged out look with his own “crazy eyes” and it works to his advantage in creating Zach. Haas has the rare ability to maintain a controlled even temperament, almost as if in a Zen state, but doing so without it feeling controlled. I love to watch him, looking for the veneer to crack, but he never does. A tacitly powerful and intriguing performance.
As Rebecca/Crazy Eyes, Madeline Zima has now fully achieved what it seems obvious she wanted to achieve – make the world forget about her being adorable Gracie Sheffield on “The Nanny.” Chain-smoking alcoholic druggie is as far from nice, intelligent, sweetness as one can get and Zima just nails it! There are moments that Zima brings a naivete to Rebecca that sparks a connection with the audience, but just as quickly, thanks to the story and character construction, loses any connection or sympathy or empathy and becomes unlikeable yet, you can’t turn away from the screen. The lost train wreck just reels you in. An interesting character choice for Zima, she thought “it could be really fun to play just a complete mess. Just have free reign to be as sloppy, crazy and unconventional as possible… I felt like I could do whatever I want with the character.” Thanks to personal experience with individuals in a “downward spiral”, Zima ” I had a really good idea about it as someone really close to me was going through a hard time, too. Either personally knowing someone going through this or being on that darker side of life is something everyone can relate to.” Adding to the believability of her performance is Zima’s almost constant state of seemingly drunk/drugged out existence. Although Sherman jokingly opines that he hired Zima and Haas because they can play drunk, for Zima, “I loved playing drunk! After a while your mind does believe that you are drunk and it is harder to be more technical. But the actual playing drunk is fun because you get to be crazy and loud. There’s psychological studies where they put near beer or no alcohol beer and people get drunk no matter what. If they think they’re drinking beer, and they act that way, they get progressively louder as the night goes on the more drinks they have.”
Jake Busey is Jake Busey is Gary Busey. Busey is obviously going to spend his career mirroring his father and his father’s antics and persona, but that’s a good thing as he is likeable, entertaining, funny and caring, all rolled into one, and nevermoreso as here being Dan Drake. Busey’s Dan Drake (I love how everytime his name is called or said in the film, it’s always “Dan Drake” and not just “Dan”) is actually the bright spot amid the emotional darkness and lifestyle of Zach. According to Sherman, important to the story structure is the “relationship and not the specificness of Jake as a character. It’s the specificness of Jake Busey and Lukas Haas, their characters’ relationship and them being different. The fact that it’s not just about the money. They actually have some kind of a supportive relationship which even though is dysfunctional to a certain (large) extent. I wanted a lot of contrast in their behavior. I wanted Lukas to be very low key. Lukas is a very good actor but I kept him monotone and low key. And Jake I cast because he’s more eccentric and can express himself in an elaborate way – not that Lukas couldn’t, but they’re very different. Having them have a relationship was an interesting thing for me – not having either character alone. That would be boring.”
As much as I love Valerie Mahaffey and Ray Wise, what was the point in having them even appear, but for one key incident which elicits a severe emotional reaction from the character of Zach? Sadly, their talents here as Zach’s parents are wasted.
Written and directed by Sherman, he is quick to point out that while CRAZY EYES is “a movie about relationships” and that although it “is closely related to reality”, at the end of the day, “it’s a movie.” While Zima is quick to note that during the course of filming, Sherman “became a better director”, Sherman describes his style of directing as one in which he aims “to collaborate with my cinematographer and my actors so I have things in mind that have to be there, but also am open to them all bringing parts of themselves into the work. I let it all be playful at the same time I have specific things that I need. Once I get those, I let it free up.” Having said that, the first thing that strikes one on seeing even just one frame of CRAZY EYES are the production values, the stylized look, the slick polish of rich saturization and use of color that pierces Zach’s world of black and white. The best thing about the film is Sharon Meir’s cinematography. Creating an impact both with the look and with specific lighting and framing, particularly effective is the use of skewed angles as they coincide with the skewed and screwed up lives of both Zach and Rebecca. And the angles are always hard and harsh, just like the hard partying taking place. The counter to the darkness of cover of night is then the harsh stark bright white and light of day which is equally sharp. Giving credit where credit is due, Sherman speaks more than highly of cinematographer Sharon Meir. Describing him as “a very experienced and good cinematographer”, not to mention “a good friend”, the two talked a lot about what Sherman wanted and collaborated closely. “[Meir] understood what I wanted and also we did some shot list type stuff – some storyboard sketches. I showed him all of my ideas. Some times we’d be in a room and he’d say, ‘Adam, it looks better from this angle.’ ‘You’re right! Let’s shoot it from there.’ The reality is, a lot of it is my ideas but if I had a terrible photographer, it wouldn’t be good. If it looks good, it’s a combination of him translating my ideas onto film well.”
Hand in hand is also Celine Diano’s production design with its use of clean, hard edges, metals, white and black in Zach’s home. There is no softness anywhere in the film.
Story is age old with multiple elements all converging into this one specific point in time in the life of one man and one woman – the thrill of the chase; then when he gets her, he doesn’t want her. As Marilyn Monroe sang, “After you get what you want, you don’t want it” and that is what we see with Zach – when he has alcohol, it’s not really what he wants; when he has drugs, it’s not really what he wants; when he finally gets Rebecca, she’s not really what he wants. But unfortunately, at the end of the day, there appears to be no point, no crisis of conscience, no cautionary tale, no great life changing revelations. If anything, CRAZY EYES may be a form of catharsis for Sherman who, while a powerful storyteller, is one who needs to hone his skills further and deliver on the promise he sets forth in his characters and story premise. Story is constructed so that in many instances it works up to a revealing fervor, but then the expect turn isn’t there….and it starts building up again. Adam Sherman definitely keeps you interested waiting for what you anticipate will come, but then never does. It’s a nice technique to rope in the audience, but with a film like this, after investing time in the story and the characters, the audience needs a payoff – and with CRAZY EYES, it just doesn’t come.
Beyond Sherman’s admission that both he and his character of Zach are misogynists, most disturbing about the film, is the constant insertion of scenes with Rebecca throwing up on herself. Floors, toilets, mirrors, beds. We get it. And then she just keeps right on drinking and snorting coke. The poster child of stupid bad behavior. And I hate to say it, but if I heard another word of dialogue that said, “I’m so drunk. I’m gonna throw-up.”, I was gonna throw up myself.
Annoying is the complete omission of any backstory or even an inkling of such to explain how Zach got all of his money. The dialogue keeps referencing his wealth, the story in large part surrounds his wealth and his ability to seemingly do nothing but still be able to live in the lap of luxury and throw money around like it’s toilet paper, yet the audience is given nothing to substantiate this aspect of the character and story. And on asking Adam Sherman about this, one is rudely stonewalled. “I get asked this question quite frequently and I’ve left it out on purpose. I will not answer the question on purpose, because the film is closely based on reality.” lack of information.”
Accepting Sherman’s statements that this film is “98% autobiographical” , as were his prior films, with a track record like this, if he is in fact the character of Zach, he is a young man with serious problems as with each films it screams a need for some sort of help and/or attention. “Life is like a source of material. You have to get your ideas from something. A lot of people get their ideas for movies from other modern movies, which is the silliest thing in my opinion. You can get your ideas from old movies. You can get your ideas from old stories and old plays. In this case, I got my ideas from life.” CRAZY EYES is one sad, and crazy, look at one man’s life.
Zach – Lukas Haas
Rebecca/Crazy Eyes – Madeline Zima
Dan Drake – Jake Busey
Written and Directed by Adam Sherman.
