Crazy in Alabama
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| Crazy in Alabama | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Antonio Banderas |
| Produced by | Debra Hill |
| Written by | Mark Childress |
| Starring | Melanie Griffith David Morse Lucas Black Cathy Moriarty Meat Loaf |
| Music by | Mark Snow |
| Editing by | Robert C. Jones |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 22, 1999 |
| Running time | 111 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15,000,000 (est.) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Crazy in Alabama is a 1999 comedy-drama film directed by Antonio Banderas, written by Mark Childress (based on his own 1993 novel of the same name), and starring Melanie Griffith as an abused wife who heads to California to become a movie star while her nephew back in Alabama has to deal with a racially-motivated murder involving a corrupt sheriff.
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[edit] Plot summary
In 1965, Peter Joseph Bullis (also known as Peejoe) lives in a small town in Alabama, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. He becomes involved with a group of black students protesting the town's racially segregated municipal swimming pool, leading to a protest that explodes into deadly violence. The young black boy Taylor Jackson is killed by the town sheriff, and Peejoe, the only witness, is pressured by the sheriff to keep it quiet. But Peejoe has gotten a crash course in standing your ground and following your path from his free-spirited aunt Lucille Vinson, who has killed her abusive husband and is headed for Hollywood, where she is convinced that television stardom awaits her. Lucille takes her husband's head everywhere she goes in a black hat box, and looks forward to the future Hollywood promises. When the head is discovered by the hostess of a party, Lucille tries to get rid of the head by throwing it off the Golden Gate Bridge. Two policemen, thinking she is about to jump over herself, open the hat box and discover the head inside. She is arrested and escorted back to Alabama for her trial, where she is given a warm welcome by her town. After being convicted of first-degree murder, Lucille is sentenced to twenty years in prison. However, the sentence is suspended, and she is put on a five-year probation with the condition that she seeks psychiatric help. Lucille, her children, and all her friends joyfully exit the courtroom while the sheriff is put under arrest for Taylor's murder.
[edit] Trivia
- Tagline: Sometimes you have to lose your mind to find your freedom.
- Two of Lucille's children are played by Melanie Griffith's real-life children: Dakota Johnson and Stella Banderas.
- The film was shot on location in Los Angeles, California and Houma, Louisiana.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Melanie Griffith | Lucille Vinson |
| David Morse | Dove Bullis |
| Lucas Black | Peter Joseph Bullis |
| Cathy Moriarty | Earlene Bullis |
| Meat Loaf | Sheriff John Doggett |
| Rod Steiger | Judge Louis Mead |
| Richard Schiff | Norman |
| John Beasley | Nehemiah Jackson |
| Robert Wagner | Harry Hall |
| Noah Emmerich | Sheriff Raymond |
| Paul Ben-Victor | D.A. Mackie |
| Brad Beyer | Jack |
| Fannie Flagg | Sally |
| Elizabeth Perkins | Joan Blake |
| Linda Hart | Madelyn |
| Paul Mazursky | Walter Schwegmann |
| Holmes Osborne | Attorney Larry Russell |
