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★★★★
Directed by: #IanStewartFowler
Starring: #PatrickDGreen, #LindsaeKlein
Ian Stewart Fowler writes and directs Crazy Right, a weird and compelling story revolving around Paul (Patrick D. Green), a grieving alcoholic suffering from a state of delusion, who is struggling to remember the events leading to him losing his wife, Iris (Lindsae Klein). Straight from the swirling opening shot, Fowler effectively uses long takes that slow the pace to build a really unnerved and questioning atmosphere, allowing the house to almost feel like a character in itself. As the audience’s eyes are guided through each event or conversation, Nathan Coltrane’s cinematography allows you to absorb every detail and build a world accompanied with a story both inside and outside of the frame through clever compositions and the film also benefits from its impressive sound design and script. Much like the rest of the film, Crazy Right’s script is well-crafted and makes the audience constantly engage with it - asking questions scene by scene as this story unfolds gracefully throughout. The performances that Fowler is able to conjure throughout are strong, with Patrick D. Green being a lovely stand-out. He does a tremendous job at leading the film, embodying a troubled essence that screams for help from somebody despite that fact that the person who needs to help him the most is himself. Fowler directs Crazy Right with a sense of the unconventional and difference with an air of confidence that reassures the audience to stay with his vision until the very end.
Despite all of the positive aspects of the film, it does have a couple of minor missteps throughout. An example of this is a particular sequence in the middle of the story that unfortunately feels completely out of place, especially within the colour grade which makes the sequence (albeit a very short one) almost the aesthetical standard of a student production. In regards to the script, which is generally very good, it does stumble sometimes with its dialogue between Paul and Iris which unfortunately has a slight knock-on effect on the actor’s performances. The pace of the edit lapsed occasionally in the first half of the second act which was deflating considering the strong first act of the film. However, although these flaws do exist, Crazy Right is quick to correct them and get back on track.
Overall, Ian Stewart Fowler’s Crazy Right is an interesting, bold and compelling psychological character study that delves into one man’s loneliness, grievance and mental health that is definitely worth your time. The showcase of powerful performances inside interesting shot compositions allows the audience to remain truly engrossed whilst Fowler explores Paul’s psychology on a personal and in-depth level that is very hard to come by. It’s grounded yet surreal, practical yet ambitious and ultimately is an impressive feat of independent filmmaking.
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