SnoopyStyle
'Strange Fruit' was a 70s rock band of excesses. Their last gig in 1977 was cut short by a lightning strike. Twenty years later, keyboardist Tony Costello (Stephen Rea) is looking to reunite the band. Karen Knowles was the band's gofer who is now a single mom to Clare (Rachael Stirling) with a hotel job. Bassist Les Wickes does roofing. Lead singer Ray Simms (Bill Nighy) is now sober but hasn't produced a thing. Drummer Beano Baggot (Timothy Spall) works in the nursery, lives in a trailer on his mother's property and running from the tax woman. Lead guitarist Brian Lovell seems to be dead. Their roadie Hughie Case (Billy Connolly) shows up with all their old gear. They find a new lead guitarist in young Luke Shand.This is a likable group of actors and characters. There are some emotional drama and a few good laughs. It's a nice light-hearted comedy. It could be funnier and there is room to be wackier. The songs could also be better. Nevertheless, the group is sweet and they have good chemistry together.
itamarscomix
Still Crazy was certainly influenced by This Is Spinal Tap, and elements from that classic can be found all over the place, but the two should not be compared. You won't find the sharp satire of Spinal Tap in this movie; nor will you find the scope and heart of Almost Famous. Still Crazy is a small, sweet comedy in the vein of Brassed Off, The Commitments and The Full Monty, and it's highly recommended for anybody who enjoyed those movies and has any fondness towards the grandiose stadium rock of the 70's. Still Crazy is funny, fast-paced and heartwarming, and backed with some of the finest actors the UK has to offer, it's a fantastic piece of entertainment and one that's fun returning to over and over again. It's a bit slow in its first half, but by the ending it's irresistibly fun, thanks to the wonderful characters (every member of the band was well-developed as a believable and likable character) and the contagious soundtrack. A great, light-weight movie for fans of true rock n' roll.
cake-26
I wanted to like this movie. I love classic rock and I already liked the cast (those that I had heard of) and it's kind of OK, but just not great. Plot-wise, I knew what I wanted and what I was gonna get. Once great rock band, ravaged by tragedy, time and drugs get back together, against the odds to heal the hurt and pull off a great comeback. To pull off a story this clichéd, the movie needed better script, better acting, bigger scale, bigger budget and more authenticity. As it is it just feels cheesy and the empathy with the 70's rock band seems second-hand, based on folklore and not actually from having lived it. The writers were born in the 30's,so they would have been past it way before the heyday of the band in the film. I guess that's why it just seems clichéd rather than genuine. It was enjoyable mostly, but it's been done better before, several times.
cellis5659
I discovered this gem of a film in the "Hot Picks" section at a local Blockbuster Video store. When I read the synopsis, I though I'd probably like it because it's about a rock band. This film marked the first time I'd ever seen Bill Nighy, who was absolutely brilliant as Ray. He really captured the personality of a rocker with a fragile ego who's fresh out of rehab and torn between his feelings of vulnerability and wanting very much to seem completely "together" and able to just go right back to the "good old days" of Strange Fruit's glory years. I feel that this movie is arguably second only to "This Is Spinal Tap" as the best(and funniest) movie ever made about a rock band. I'd highly recommend it to anyone!
AD
