Crazy: An interesting story about an unlikely subject

Review of Crazy written by Jason Ehlers, Rick Bieber, and Brent Boyd and directed by Rick Bieber
Rating ****

This is one of those films I came across browsing the shelves of my local Blockbuster. I had never heard of the film prior to stumbling upon it at Blockbuster. But as we close out the year, and I get ready to release my best of 2010, I had to write something about this film because it made my list.

This is a bio film on Hank Garland. Never heard of Hank Garland? Neither had I before this film. But if I told you that he was co-writer and the guitar player on the song Jingle Bell Rock, you would certainly recognize the song and the distinctive guitar playing on the song.

Now if you research the song, you might discover that Hank isn’t given a writing credit. And that is part of the story told here. Back in those days you were classified as either an artist, session player, or writer. So while Hank contributed to a song that made millions, he was paid a one time fee as a musician on the song that he helped write. The same is true for most of the songs he contributed on.

Since it’s the season, why not have a listen to the actual song with Hank playing guitar.

The two stars of this film – Waylon Payne and Ali Larter – are terrific in their roles. Waylon, who plays Hank, reminded me of James Dean. And as for Ali Larter, I haven’t seen her in anything before, but I’m willing to bet that we’ll be seeing more of her. At least I hope so. There’s a line from the movie that I’ll use to describe her. At one point in the movie Evelyn, Hank’s wife, decides that she has had enough spending time alone. So she decides to go to a local bar looking for a one night stand and a little revenge. She sits next to a guy at the bar. Once the guy realizes that this beautiful woman is looking for something more than conversation, he says “I couldn’t dream of a woman as beautiful as you.” Her come back is, “Well, maybe you should try harder.”

It’s not often that you see movies about the behind the scene guys. A session player who played on records by Elvis and Roy Orbison and many other country stars. But Hank is deserving of having his story told. Hank’s promising career was derailed after an automobile accident that the movie insinuates was no accident. Hank had his enemies.

The film didn’t have any extras, but at the end during the credits they did show pictures of Hank and Evelyn. And then at the very end they had Hank playing his famous instrumental Sugarfoot Rag. Here’s Hank playing the song.

This is definitely a film I would recommend renting. You can find more at the official website and the Hank garland website.