''Crazy in Alabama'' is a 1999 American

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

in his directorial debut and written by Mark Childress based on his novel. The film follows an abused housewife ( Melanie Griffith), whose nephew ( Lucas Black) identifies a corrupt sheriff (

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...

) as a murderer. It marked Dakota Johnson's film debut.

Plot

In 1965

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, Peter Joseph "Peejoe" Bullis is an

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

living in a small town during the Civil Rights Movement. His eccentric aunt, Lucille Vinson, kills her husband Chester with poison, after suffering years of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. She decapitates him and keeps his severed head, while planning to become a television actress in Hollywood. In

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Lucille buys a black hat box to store the head. When a bartender on Bourbon Street insults her, she threatens him with a

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

, before stealing the car and money. Meanwhile, Peejoe's uncle and Lucille's brother, Dove, a local funeral director, is notified of the incident. Lucille becomes paranoid, knowing Chester's ghost is haunting her. Meanwhile, Peejoe discovers a group of black students, entering the town's racially segregated municipal swimming pool and protesting. The town sheriff, John Doggett, inadvertently kills a young black boy, Taylor Jackson, by pulling him off the fence he is climbing and making him hit his head on the floor. Peejoe witnesses this and tells John to "be silent". While mowing the lawn, Peejoe is struck in the eye with a rock. The townspeople circulate a false story that he was shot in retaliation about Taylor. Peejoe and his brother, Wiley, support the black townspeople to honor Taylor. However, they are caught by the police and white pro- Confederates. After playing

roulette Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...

, Lucille subsequently spends $32,000 in order to travel from

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. She receives the stage name Carolyn Clay and takes a minor role on '' Bewitched''. Peejoe and Wiley attend a speech by Martin Luther King Jr., and Peejoe's racist aunt, Earline, is infuriated over the publicity involving the family. That night, they discover Lucille appearing on television. At Hollywood Hills, hostess Joan Blake discovers the head inside the box. Lucille and Norman flee to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and try to discard the head off the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

. However, the two policemen discover this and stop Lucille from attempting suicide. She is arrested and escorted back to Alabama for the trial, where she is met by a media circus. In

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

, she meets Taylor's father, Nehemiah. After being convicted of first-degree murder, Lucille is about to stay in prison for twenty years, but the sentence is suspended after she earns the judge's sympathy, after testifying to the abuse. She is put on a five-year

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

with the condition that she seek psychiatric help. Lucille, her children, and all her friends leave the courtroom, while John (through Peejoe's testimony) gets arrested.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in Houma, Louisiana, Schriever, Chackbay,

, and

Reception

The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, scoring a 30% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 56 reviews, with the site's consensus stating: "Melanie Griffith gets kudos for her performance, but the movie just doesn't seem to come together." The film had a score of 46 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

based on 27 reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' called the film "an ungainly fit of three stories that have no business being shoehorned into the same movie," awarding it two out of four stars. Janet Maslin of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that the film "takes an antic tone. It presents Melanie Griffith as the kind of fanciful creature who looks flirty even on her Wanted poster, and whose escapades en route to Hollywood have a dizzy spin." Paula Nechak of the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'' called the film "funny, eccentric, and touchingly just, combining a unique interpretation of the time with an offbeat sense of humor." Griffith was nominated for the

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress Razzie Award for Worst Actress is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actress of the previous year. Male actors performing in drag are eligible, as it is intended as a humorous award. The following is a list ...

for the film, but lost it to Heather Donahue for '' The Blair Witch Project''. However, her performance for the film and '' Another Day in Paradise'' earned her the Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actress. Lucas Black was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film and YoungStar Award for Best Young Actor/Performance in a Motion Picture Drama. Banderas won the 2000 ALMA Award for Outstanding Director of a Feature Film and the European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema. He was nominated for a Golden Lion Award.

References

External links