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Crazy in Alabama
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MPAA Rating: PG-13
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Entertainment: +3
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Content: -1 1/2
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Teenager Peejoe (Lucas Black) has a crush on his glamorous, zany Aunt Lucille (Melanie Griffith). They live in a small, sleepy Alabama town until Lucille wakes it up by killing her abusive husband, leaving seven small children with her mother and running away to Hollywood. Before she leaves, she tells her nephew she cut off her husbands head. Peejoe doesnt believe her until he sees the head in a shopping bag in Lucilles car. While Lucille is traveling across the country raising mayhem in New Orleans and Las Vegas, Peejoe witnesses the cruelty of racial prejudice in his hometown in l965. The bigoted local sheriff (Meat Loaf Aday) accidentally kills a black teenager who is demanding his civil right to use the city swimming pool. Peejoe and his Uncle Dove (David Morse) march with the blacks in protest. Lucilles past catches up with her and she is brought back to Alabama to stand trial. The parallel plots -- one comic and one dramatic -- dont really connect well, but CRAZY IN ALABAMAs quirky humor will probably make it a crowd-pleaser.
Lucilles heinous crime is treated humorously. She carries her dead husbands head, which she imagines talks to her, in a hat box all the way to Hollywood. In New Orleans she holds up a bar at gunpoint and steals the bartenders car. In Las Vegas she turns on her southern charm, wins $30,000 and seduces the bellboy. Sex between them is implied after some suggestive passionate groping. Back in Alabama, she has the judge calling her "darlin" after a private conference. The tragic death of the black teenager thrown on the concrete, and police beating protesters contrasts with the respect and compassion Peejoe and his uncle show for the blacks. Several regular profanities and three s-words are completely uncalled for, but the "n-word" is used to expose the offensive nature of bigotry. CRAZY IN ALABAMA sympathizes with a cold-blooded killer who shows no remorse and claims self-defense because her husband was killing her spirit. Its light-hearted treatment of Lucilles blatant immoral behavior and its offensive language earn this movie our negative rating.
Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Columbia Pictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
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Summary
The following categories contain objective listings of film content which contribute to the subjective numeric Content ratings posted to the left and on the Home page.
Crude Language: Many (11) timesMild 3, Moderate 8
Obscene Language: Few (3) times (s-word)
Profanity: Many (16) timesRegular 7 (GD 3, G 1, J 1, JC 2); Exclamatory 9
Violence: Several timesModerate (boy killed when thrown on concrete, police beat protesters with clubs, woman uses gun threats in hold up, walks through glass door, boys eye severely cut in accident)
Sex: None; Implied once (woman seduces bell boy)
Nudity: None; Near Nudity many times (woman wears tight fitting low-cut dresses)
Sexual Dialogue/Gesture: Few times (woman mistaken for prostitute, kissing and groping in seduction scene)
Drugs: Few times (social drinking, woman orders drink in bar)
Other: Bigots mistreat minorities and use n-word; boy and his uncle risk lives to stand up for persecuted; murder treated comically; gambling in casino
Running Time: 104 minutes
Intended Audience: Older Teens and Adults
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