C.R.A.Z.Y. follows the coming-out story of a Quebecois boy as he grows through the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's. As such, this is a character-driven film, not one driven by plot. The beginning of the story has a few magical elements, where the boy imagines the world being shaped by his thoughts and fantasies. This imaginative part of the story is the most interesting, evoking both a sense of wonderment at how the universe works and allowing us a glimpse of the boy's own relationship with catholicism.
Yet, as the boy grows, his character becomes static. He is searching for a connection with the world that will allow him to finally become comfortable with his homosexuality. As an adult, he is no longer able to escape into his fantasies. One would anticipate that a director would include more interesting interactions with the boy's family as he grows older. However, the boy's struggle remains an internal one that he can not resolve (and which repeats itself in a tiresome fashion). This is a serious flaw with the movie, as most of the characters in the boy's family have no role. With the exception of the eldest brother and the boy's father, the boy has no interaction with anyone. At the end of the movie, we hear a voice-over where the boy announces that "everything worked out in the end." Considering the boy's lack of interaction with anyone in the film, this is a cheap fix. We never find out how the boy was able to resolve his relationship with his girlfriend. We never see any side of his mother (aside from absolute love). In fact, a feminist perspective of this film could easily argue that all the female characters were stereotypes (the devoted mother and the devoted girlfriend). We never know how his brothers interacted with him after his coming out.
The positive praise bestowed on this film perplexes me. Most of it seems nationalist in nature, as if Quebecois people were simply happy that a person made a Quebecois film (even if it was not very good). To them, I suggest they make a comparison between CRAZY and La vie en Rose or Ma vraie vie en Rouèn, both superior films which deal with similar topics. If you watch Ma vie en Rose and give it an 8/10, can you still defend your 8/10 for CRAZY? I would certainly doubt it.
Yet, as the boy grows, his character becomes static. He is searching for a connection with the world that will allow him to finally become comfortable with his homosexuality. As an adult, he is no longer able to escape into his fantasies. One would anticipate that a director would include more interesting interactions with the boy's family as he grows older. However, the boy's struggle remains an internal one that he can not resolve (and which repeats itself in a tiresome fashion). This is a serious flaw with the movie, as most of the characters in the boy's family have no role. With the exception of the eldest brother and the boy's father, the boy has no interaction with anyone. At the end of the movie, we hear a voice-over where the boy announces that "everything worked out in the end." Considering the boy's lack of interaction with anyone in the film, this is a cheap fix. We never find out how the boy was able to resolve his relationship with his girlfriend. We never see any side of his mother (aside from absolute love). In fact, a feminist perspective of this film could easily argue that all the female characters were stereotypes (the devoted mother and the devoted girlfriend). We never know how his brothers interacted with him after his coming out.
The positive praise bestowed on this film perplexes me. Most of it seems nationalist in nature, as if Quebecois people were simply happy that a person made a Quebecois film (even if it was not very good). To them, I suggest they make a comparison between CRAZY and La vie en Rose or Ma vraie vie en Rouèn, both superior films which deal with similar topics. If you watch Ma vie en Rose and give it an 8/10, can you still defend your 8/10 for CRAZY? I would certainly doubt it.