THE CRAZIES (2010)

THE CRAZIES-United States-2010

Timothy Olyphant as David

Radha Mitchell as Judy

Joe Anderson as Deputy Russell Clank

Danielle Panabaker as Becca

Directed by Breck Eisner

Screenplay by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright and based on the 1973 motion picture by George A. Romero

There’s a saying that goes ‘expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised.’ I believe that phrase would go a long way in describing my experience with “The Crazies”; a motion picture that I continued to put off even after hearing a bit of positive buzz about it. To be honest I just never was one of those guys that enjoy the type of movie where the government lets a virus loose on an unsuspecting town and then screws the entire population in the poop chute. I have to hand it to “The Crazies” though; the individual human element of the film is held together by a couple of strong performances by Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell. Olyphant is one of those actors that have the looks and the chops, but he’s danced on the razor’s edge of stardom for far too long. The same can be said of Mitchell to a lesser degree. Both of them deserve that big chance and “The Crazies” comes real close to being that opportunity.

It’s a bright sunny day in Ogden Marsh. There’s a baseball game being played between the rival high school teams and the whole town is there to cheer them on. Life is as it should be in a small town: peaceful, serene. All it takes is for one guy with a shotgun to walk out onto the ball field. After that you can watch a man burn down his house with his wife and son inside. Maybe you would enjoy seeing a man shove a pitchfork into helpless people; or a trio of rednecks shooting the locals as if they were deer. It’s all fun and games in the small town of Ogden Marsh. What’s even more fun about it is that it’s all government controlled and sanctioned. Yes, America it is your tax dollars at work. I guess it sure is a damn good thing it’s only a movie.

It should come as no surprise that “The Crazies” is a remake. The original film was directed by George A, Romero. George is that guy that brought us “Night of the Living Dead” and all those other films where the dead munch on the flesh of the living. He’s even a producer on the remake of “The Crazies.” Having never seen the original I can’t compare the two films. I do however get the feeling that Mr. Romero would be proud.

TRIVIA

If you read the graffiti on the jail cell wall, one appears to say “Romero”.

The film opens with the song “We’ll Meet Again,” as performed by Johnny Cash. The song is from the same album that provided “The Man Comes Around,” which opened another remake of a George A. Romero film, Dawn of the Dead. The album is “American IV“, the last full album Cash released before his death. “The Man Comes Around” and “We’ll Meet Again” are the opening and closing tracks, respectively.

Some of the filming was done in Lenox, Iowa. Lenox is the opposing team in the baseball scene early in the film.

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