It's Ernie Hudson week! I've seen many movies or series that star Ernie Hudson. But, because it's Ernie Hudson week I decided to watch something new. A movie I hadn't seen before. I even chose a movie I had never heard of. Just to try something else and maybe discover another side of Ernie. My choice was "Call me Crazy: A five film". This movie contains five stories. All these stories show, in their own way, how people deal with a mental illness. 3 of the 5 stories are connected.
So, I started to watch! I was very curious, it sounds like an interesting project!
In the first story we follow Lucy, a law student with schizophrenia. Brittany Snow does an amazing job in portraying Lucy. She shows the healing path that Lucy follows and the challenges she faces.
Story 2 focusses on a mom and her teenage daughter. This was the most touching story in my opinion. Robin is bipolar. You see her and her daughter Grace struggeling. The story is built up very carefully. Robin goes shopping with Grace and her friends. Robin is full of energy and excited. You feel it's too much and that this will go wrong. Her daughter notices, but no one else wants to see this. They all enjoy Robin's exuberance. As a viewer, you can only watch helplessly. I really felt for them both. You feel Robin's despair at the end of the story in your bones.
In the third story, a young girl (Allison) takes her boyfriend home. They will be having dinner with her parents. Her parents actually seem very cool. The atmosphere is relaxed untill you find out that her sister Lucy is coming home. Her sister is Lucy is the one from the first story. This storyline shows how Allison is coping with her sisters illness. But also how that affects Lucy. Story 4 kicks off with a comedian. You hear some jokes, see the audience enjoying themselves. But quickly you learn that Eddie isn't as happy as he seems on stage. He suffers from depression. This story shows brilliantly how the outside doesn't always show how we feel inside. Yet, this story touched me the least. I felt more an observer than finding myself inside the story.
And then, there's Ernie Hudson! He stars in the last story. He's the father of Maggie, who returns home from war. You see her struggeling at home and in the relationship with her father (and also her child). She suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. There, we also meet Lucy again who helps her in the role of her lawyer. Ernie Hudson plays a magnificent role here. Truly personating the relationship with daughter Maggie and the difficulties they overcome.
I really enjoyed seeing Ernie in a completely different role. I know him mainly for "Congo", "Ghostbusters" and "Oz". Though the total amount of minutes on screen in this movie is not so much, I loved his part. It's an interesting movie and they do a wonderful job in showing the struggles that come with a mental illness. But not just that: They also show what you can accomplish. A film that not only creates understanding, but motivates as well. At least to understand a bit more. Of course it's hard to go in depth in the limited time each story has. But the great cast did a wonderfull job in shaping the stories. It felt believable and I felt for the characters. For me it was nice movie to watch.
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