Name: Retro Film Review: Still Crazy (1998)
Item: Still Crazy
Rating: 70
Author: @drax

(source:tmdb.org)

Rock'n'roll is one of the most overrated cultural achievements of 20th Century. At least this is the impression the author of this review gets when he sees how once undisputed gods of music and their work fare in the world dominated by the likes of Britney Spears and Marilyn Manson. One of the rare positive things to come out of that sorry state of affairs is Still Crazy, 1998 comedy directed by Brian Gibson.

The plot revolves around "Strange Fruit", one of the most popular 1970s British rock bands. Like many of those bands, "Strange Fruit" proved vulnerable to too much sex, alcohol, drugs and band in-fighting. All that culminated in disastrous festival performance followed by immediate break-up. Twenty years later Tony Costello (played by Stephen Rea), one of its original members, doesn't make much money as condom machine repairman so he accepts the offer to gather other band members for a comeback tour. Although band's former secretary and groupie Karen Knowles (played by Juliet Aubrey) agrees to help him, reunion turns out to be much more difficult that anyone had imagined. Some band members have abandoned music career years ago, some are recovering from substance abuse and some are dead. Costello, with the help of Hughie (played by Billy Conolly), band's old roadie, nevertheless manage to convince his old friends to test their abilities on the mini-tour in Benelux countries.

Still Crazy is a film mostly oriented to the older audience – those who feel sentimental towards good old times yet allow twenty or more years of experience to put those cherished memories into proper context. Scriptwriters Dick Clement and Ian Le Fresnais are poking fun at the once deified world of rock'n'roll music and don't escape from the realisation that the seemingly legendary past wasn't that different from prosaic present. But they do it in very tactful manner and show unmistakable fondness for the film's subject matter. Still Crazy works because characters are more than comic stereotypes - they are real human beings faced with unpleasant issues of ageing. Excellent British actors -Timothy Spall and Bill Nighy (who would, in a way, repeat the role of aged rock star in Love Actually) - contribute to this effect, aided by real life musicians like Jimmy Nail.

Brian Gibson, who has handled music world before in What's Love Gotta to Do With It directs this film very well and achieves proper balance between pathos, humour and music numbers. Films like these, of course, simply can't be made without some cliches. So, film is given the usual happy ending in the form of triumphant concert. Before that rather unconvincing saccharine-like plot twist clearly puts Still Crazy in the world of Hollywood fantasy. But, there is enough fun and rock music references in this film to make Still Crazy appealing both to those who are sentimental towards 1970s and those who still want to know what was so special about that period. RATING: 7/10 (+++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on September 28th 2004)