Themes: Self-Destructive Romance, Opposites Attract, Lovers on the Lam
Main Cast: Chris O'Donnell, Drew Barrymore, Matthew Lillard, Robert Nadir
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
A lonely teenager thinks that he's found love, but it turns out to be more than he bargained for. Matt Leland (Chris O'Donnell) is an intelligent but awkward high school student who is in the market for a girlfriend but not having much luck finding one. One night, while looking at the stars through his telescope, Matt accidentally trains his vision on Casey Roberts (Drew Barrymore), a high-spirited girl who lives on the other side of the lake near their home. Matt is smitten with her, and he maps out a scheme to meet her. He finds her brash and charming, and she seems just as fond of him. However, Matt doesn't know that Casey is manic depressive and has been in and out of mental institutions for most of her life. Her father Richard (Jude Ciccolella) wants to keep her in an institution, while her mother Margaret (Joan Allen) wants the best for her daughter but isn't sure what that is. Casey, however, wants to be with Matt, and she convinces him that her parents mean to harm her. They run away, planning to go to Mexico, but Matt begins to realize that Casey's mood swings are more serious than he imagined. Set in Seattle, Mad Love features an on-screen appearance by the Washington-based all-female hard rock band 7 Year Bitch; the soundtrack also features music by Nirvana, Luscious Jackson, Los Lobos, Cracker, and Grant Lee Buffalo. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Joan Allen - Margaret Roberts; Jude Ciccolella - Richard Roberts; Kevin Dunn - Clifford Leland; Angela Hall - Dr. Laura Genel; T.J. Lowther - Adam Leland; Elaine Miles - Housekeeper; Patrick Ryals - Vice Principal; Amy Sakasitz - Joanna Leland; Sharon Collar - Librarian; Liev Schreiber - Salesman
Credit
Mark Worthington - Art Director, Dianne Crittenden - Casting, Marcus Viscidi - Co-producer, Eugenie Bafaloukos - Costume Designer, Antonia Bird - Director, Jeff Freeman - Editor, Fred Tammes - Editor, Nelson Stoll - Musical Direction/Supervision, Fred Runner - Musical Direction/Supervision, Fern Buchner - Makeup, David Brisbin - Production Designer, Fred Tammes - Cinematographer, David Manson - Producer, Gene Serdena - Set Designer, Gene Hartline - Stunts, Terry Jackson - Stunts, Hugh A. O'Brien - Stunts, Paula Milne - Screenwriter
Straight-laced Matt Leland (O'Donnell) falls in love with Casey Roberts (Barrymore), the new girl in school from Chicago. After Matt helps Casey escape from an acute psychiatric ward, they run away as they both deal with her severe bipolar disorder.
Casey is eccentric in nature. Her carefree attitude is attributed to a part of her illness, in which she can experience severe highs and severe lows of emotion. It is from this truth much of the film's central appeal and plot are based upon, in that her mutual love and joy can be so extreme yet dangerously flawed.
Heading toward Mexico, Casey begins to experience the depression again. Matt, trying to help her, becomes scared. After Casey attempts suicide, they return to Seattle and their families, where Casey agrees to start taking medication.
