Crazy in Alabama Information

Crazy in Alabama is a 1999 comedy-drama film directed by Antonio Banderas, written by Mark Childress (based on his own 1993 novel of the same name), and starring Melanie Griffith as an abused wife who 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. The movie was filmed in Houma, Louisiana.

Plot summary

In 1965, Peter Joseph "Peejoe" Bullis lives in a small town in Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. He becomes involved with a group of black students protesting the town's racially segregated municipal swimming pool, leading to a protest that explodes into deadly violence. A young black boy, Taylor Jackson, is killed by the town sheriff. Peejoe, the only witness, is pressured by the sheriff to keep it quiet. However, Peejoe has learned from the example of his free-spirited Aunt Lucille Vinson, who has killed her abusive husband and is headed for Hollywood, where she is convinced that television stardom awaits her.

Lucille takes her husband's head everywhere she goes in a black hat box and looks forward to Hollywood promises. When the head is discovered by the hostess of a party, Lucille tries to get rid of the head by throwing it off the Golden Gate Bridge. Two policemen, thinking she is about to jump over herself, open the hat box and discover the head inside. She is arrested and escorted back to Alabama for her trial, where she is given a warm welcome by her town.

After being convicted of first-degree murder, Lucille is sentenced to twenty years in prison. However, the sentence is suspended, and she is put on a five-year probation with the condition that she seek psychiatric help. Lucille, her children, and all her friends joyfully exit the courtroom while the sheriff (through Peejoe's testimony) is put under arrest for Taylor's murder.

Cast

Actor	Role
Melanie Griffith	Lucille Vinson
David Morse	Dove Bullis
Lucas Black	Peter Joseph Bullis
David Speck	Wiley Bullis
Cathy Moriarty	Earlene Bullis
Meat Loaf	Sheriff John Doggett
Rod Steiger	Judge Louis Mead
Richard Schiff	Norman
John Beasley	Nehemiah Jackson
Robert Wagner	Harry Hall
Noah Emmerich	Sheriff Raymond
Sandra Seacat	Meemaw
Paul Ben-Victor	D.A. Mackie
Brad Beyer	Jack
Fannie Flagg	Sally
Elizabeth Perkins	Joan Blake
Linda Hart	Madelyn
Paul Mazursky	Walter Schwegmann
Holmes Osborne	Attorney Larry Russell
Tony Amendola	Casino Boss
Randal Kleiser	Bob

Reception

Crazy in Alabama received mixed reviews from critics, scoring a 30% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 56 reviews, as well as a score of 46 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 27 reviews. Melanie Griffith earned a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress for her performance in the film but lost out to Heather Donahue for The Blair Witch Project. However, her performance in this 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 Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor and YoungStar Award for Best Young Actor/Performance in a Motion Picture Drama. The director, Antonio Banderas, won the 2000 ALMA award for Outstanding Director of a Feature Film, the European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema, and was nominated for a Golden Lion.