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Crazy in Alabama

Crazy in Alabama

Comedy · Drama · 1999

An abused wife 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.

Movie details

Crazy in Alabama

“Sometimes you have to lose your mind to find your freedom.”

1999 Comedy · Drama 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.2 / 10

7.5K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

31 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

46 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

An abused wife 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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Crazy in Alabama?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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South Central

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During a 10-year sentence for murdering the leader of a rival South Central Los Angeles gang, Bobby Johnson finds religion and rehabilitation with the help of Muslim inmate Ali. Upon his release, Bobby returns home to find that his young son, Jimmie, has joined the Deuces, his old crew. Tensions rise as Bobby struggles to convince Jimmie to leave the gang that was his only family during the painful years his absent father spent behind bars.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Antonio Banderas

Written by

Mark Childress

Melanie Griffith

Melanie Griffith

Lucille Vinson

David Morse

David Morse

Dove Bullis

Lucas Black

Lucas Black

Peter Joseph 'Peejoe' Bullis

Cathy Moriarty

Cathy Moriarty

Earlene Bullis

Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf

Sheriff John Doggett

Rod Steiger

Rod Steiger

Judge Louis Mead

Richard Schiff

Richard Schiff

Norman the Chauffeur

Court is in session

Put Crazy in Alabama on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.