Still Crazy is a 1998 comedy film about a fictional 1970s rock band named "Strange Fruit", who, after being split up for several decades, are convinced to get back together to perform at a reunion of the same concert venue where they played their last gig. The film focuses on the personal lives on all of the different members, and their individual experiences with approaching middle-age and the success that eluded them.
It was nominated for two Golden Globes in 1999.
Synopsis
The film opens with the band performing at the Wisbech Rock Festival in 1977. Hughie (Billy Connolly) is giving a commentary of how, due to the pursuit of "fame, fortune, and fornication" (as well as the O.D. of their original singer, Brian's brother, Keith), that was their last performance. At the start of their set, lightning strikes the stage and technical problems befall their equipment, and the band prematurely ends their performance in frustration over competing egos and various members' lack of self-control.
Skip ahead 20 years. Keyboardist, Tony Costello (Stephen Rea), who now lives in Ibiza. He is recognised as one of the members of Strange Fruit by a stranger at a cafe, whose father happened to be the organiser of the original Wisbech Festival. The stranger tells Tony that they are doing a Wisbech reunion concert and asks if Tony can reunite the band.
Tony quickly manages to track down Karen (Juliet Aubrey), the band's original runaround. She is at first reluctant to become involved with the reunion, but is unhappily working in PR and becomes inspired to return to the band after finding some memorabilia in her garage. She agrees, but insists on being the band's manager, which Tony has no problem with.
Gradually, Karen and Tony track down the original members; bassist Les (Jimmy Nail), who has a family and works as a roofer, drummer David (a.k.a. Beano) (Timothy Spall), who is working at a nursery and is on the run from the Inland Revenue due to a large sum of money he owes due to a bad business deal, and lead singer Ray (Bill Nighy), who after years of drug and alcohol abuse, is now completely sober and attending AA meetings, is living in a mansion with his Swedish wife, Astrid (Helena Bergstrom), and apparently working on a solo album. The band meets up at a pub to discuss the reunion. Everyone expects Brian to be there, however Karen shows up and breaks the news that she was unable to track down Brian, although she found that he gave away all of his earnings to a charity in the States. Everyone comes to the conclusion that Brian is dead, and they decide to soldier on with the reunion, and agree to play the festival. Their roadie Hughie (Connolly), turns up unexpectedly during their first rehearsals. Soon after they find a replacement for Brian in young Luke Shand (Hans Matheson) who has musical talent but is unaware of the tensions within the band.
The band embark upon a warm-up tour of Europe after Karen negotiates with a record company executive who now owns the rights to their back catalogue. Their initial performances aren't very good and they are poorly received by the younger generation; Ray is still under delusions of grandeur (even going so far as to mistake a pizza delivery signature for a request for his autograph); Les still resents Ray for having replaced Keith; Les and Beano (and Hughie, although he has little influence in the band) have little hope for the band, firmly believing both Keith and then Brian were the main talent, and Tony begins to make advances to Karen, but she is reluctant as she had always been deeply attached to Brian.
At one of the gigs, Ray dresses in a ridiculous glam-rock outfit, plants smoke machines around the stage, and secretly gets Hughie to raise the volume levels to their maximum. Ray believes that this will boost his performance abilities, but during the performance of their song "Scream Freedom", everything backfires, and Les, followed by Ray, walk off stage in a huff, while Tony, Luke, and Beano play on. Ray and Les confront each other about their mutual hatred, which causes Ray to have a nervous breakdown, along with his depression over the fact that it is also his 50th birthday. Ray ends up running away from the gig and buys drugs from a man on the street (played by Mackenzie Crook) before falling into an icy canal. He is rescued by Karen's daughter, Claire (Rachael Stirling). Astrid also meets up with the band at this show, and is completely devastated at his near-drowning, and blames Karen for it. Also, the loud volumes of the concert caused every window in the venue to break, and the promoters and townspeople want the band to pay for it, while locking up their tourbus as collateral. However, Hughie is able to break the bus out, and the band, after rescuing Ray, quickly skips town. The next morning on the bus, Les apologizes to Ray for what he said (prompted by a white lie from Tony that Ray tried to commit suicide because of Les's comments), and Ray apologizes for his behavior, and shares with the rest of the band that, while in the canal, he "received a positive message" from Brian.
The bus breaks down along the side of the road, and Karen confronts the band about their lack of confidence. They meet a girl (Donna Air) who's heading to Antwerp wearing an old Strange Fruit tour t-shirt, which she says belonged to her father. The band believes this to be a another positive omen. The next few shows go down without incident, and go over well with audiences, and they become slightly more optimistic. A week later, they get a record deal and quickly enter the studio to record new material, which includes a new song written and sung by Les (something which Ray never allowed before). However, after watching a previously-taped drunken TV interview with Zoë Ball in which Les and Beano imply that the band were much better with Keith and Brian, Ray breaks down again and quits.
As the band members return to their former lives, Karen and Claire visit Keith's grave to pay their respects. There they find a note: "Even after all this time the flame still burns. Love you, man. Brian", referring to song called "The Flame Still Burns", written by Les & Brian about Keith after his death. Karen and Claire confront Hughie, who indeed knows that Brian is still alive, and reluctantly tells where Brian is. Karen and Tony finally find Brian, who has secluded himself to a mental hospital, where he has stayed ever since he left the band. He explains that he gave away his earnings, because he wanted to sever himself from his previous life as much as possible. He agrees to talk to the band and try to reconcile them so they can continue playing. His return brings the band (including Ray) back together. However, the pre-show press conference at the festival involves some hostile questions aimed at Brian, such as whether his the breakdown chemically induced or as a result of his brother's death, whether he has spent the intervening years in a mental hospital and whether the whole thing was simply a publicity stunt. This all proves too much for Brian and walks out of the conference, followed by the rest of the band except for Luke, who slams on the journalists, calling them insensitive to Brian's mental state, and that the band deserves more respect. Brian decides to back out of the show, but gives his blessing for the rest of the band to go on playing.
Meanwhile, the woman (Frances Barber) who has been hunting Beano throughout the course of the film, ends up cornering him backstage and reveals that (rather than working for the Inland Revenue, as Beano originally thought) she has been obsessed with him ever since she first saw Strange Fruit, which was the first concert she ever went to, but that her father hence forbade her from listening to rock music ever again. She demands "quick, violent sex" from Beano, which causes him to almost miss their set. However, he finally turns up at the last minute, right after Les suggests to get another drummer.
The band starts their set with the same song with which they opened up the last Wisbech Festival. However, once again, lightning strikes the stage, and their equipment starts to break down. However, Tony starts to play The Flame Still Burns, (which they had never played live or even rehearsed due to tensions between Les and Ray, and Luke is fumbling because of his unfamiliarity with the song), which quickly heals the tension. Brian is pleased to hear the band playing the song, which helps him finally overcome his fears, and quickly rejoins the band onstage, to the surprise and delight of everyone.
Soundtrack
Strange Fruit songs
The songs that the band Strange Fruit are known to perform in the film are:
- "The Flame Still Burns"
- "All Over the World"
- "Dirty Town"
- "Black Moon"
- "Bird on a Wire"
- "Scream Freedom"
- "Dangerous Things"
- "What Might Have Been"
Also, "Stealin'" is performed by Billy Connolly's character.
External links
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Films directed by Brian Gibson |
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| 1970s |
The Billion Dollar Bubble (1976)
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| 1980s |
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| 1990s |
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