Hi, Burl here to review a movie I’ll characterize as “not
very well-known!” It’s a romantic comedy shot almost a decade ago in a small
town somewhere, and it’s called On the
Edge of Crazy! Ha ha, and how did it fall into ol’ Burl’s hands? It’s too
long a tale to tell! But you can watch it tonight if you wish, for it is
available on the Internet!
The picture’s tagline truly says it all! Indeed, all they wished
for was a quiet romantic evening, and double indeed, instead all they received
was the exact opposite! Ha ha, the picture tells the story of a doughy fellow
named Leland Leonard who has trouble in the dating department! His mushmouthed
narration brings us to the present moment: he has thus far in his young life dated only weirdos and harpies, and
hopes to someday find a normal lady he can love! He meets a cheery young lass called
Beverly, and eventually manages to make a date with her! But their evening
falls into chaos as Leonard’s brother, a would-be wrestler; and a beret-wearing
individual, ostensibly a pornoo-movie director, with an unplaceable,
ever-shifting accent; and a particularly unpleasant ex-girlfriend; and other
such parties, invade their townhouse and make romance impossible!
Thus does the plot, or “plot,” unfold! Ha ha, I guess the
atmosphere being striven for is the one-thing-after-another chaos of After Hours or other such pictures, but
the situations are a bit too contrived for that to be brought off; and the humour
alternately ham-handed or obvious! Some of the gags do come off well though,
and when that’s the case it almost always arises from the more felicitous
performances!
This is an amateur production, so I’m not going to complain
too much about performance issues, ha ha! But it must be said that the
director, Ryan Souter, probably would have been better off casting someone
other than himself in the lead! He makes a game effort, but can overcome
neither his physical unsuitability for the character, nor the essential passivity of
his role, nor the fact that his mind was obviously more on his directing than
his acting! On the other hand, the fellow who plays his hen-pecked buddy is
really quite good, and a number of the other performances give some nice
moments!
But the direction upon which Mr. Souter was lavishing the
bulk of his attentions is pretty uninspired, I must say! Certainly I understand
his position: keeping control of such an enterprise is, or in the moment at
least feels like, a feat in itself! But the movie is bereft of any style or
interesting flourish that might give it some individuality! It’s too bad,
because with a little more pep and gumption, this might have stood out a little
bit!
It tries to be weird, but the weirdness is mostly of the
off-putting variety; and the picture is laid over with an outdated, juvenile
men-are-from-Mars-women-are-from-Venus sensibility! Actually, even worse, the
men are from Earth, supposedly, while the women are from Beta Centauri or some
such far-flung alien place! Ha ha! It’s trying to be When Harry Met Sally, but comes off more as When Harry Met Bzwai-9!
There’s not too much more to say about such a picture! I
myself watched it on DVD, but as I say, it appears to be available for viewing online if
you’re so inclined! And by all means, if you have a taste for backyard comedy
or the sincere efforts of amateurs, you might find some genuine enjoyment! I
will say that I appreciated it a great deal more than many slick and
professional rom-coms I’ve seen! I’m going to give On the Edge of Crazy a robust one and a half wrestling capes!
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