Excellent, a Must See

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

At first you wonder what a woman like Beatrice Morandelli Valdirana is doing in the Villa Biondi, an institution for women with mental health problems in the Tuscan countryside. She claims to be a Countess, rich, well-connected and knowledgeable. A little bit of a busybody maybe, talkative, inquisitive and demanding but clearly intelligent. It's not long however before you're wondering what on earth they are thinking letting her out to do some part-time work at a plant nursery. Are they mad?The difference is that Beatrice seems to have hit it off with a new 'inmate', Donatella Morelli, who has been brought in after a suicide attempt. Unlike Beatrice, Donatella is silent, withdrawn and nervous, and has no social connections and only one number on her phone. When the mini bus picking them up from the nursery is late one day, the two women decide to make their own way back; the long way, with a few amusing diversions along the way.With two inmates from a mental health institution on the loose, you might think La Pazza Gioia (Like Crazy) is going to be something along the lines of 'The Dream Team' meets 'Thelma and Louise', and indeed the film plays up the crazy angle for all it's worth, with plenty of broad humour to be had in their encounters along the road and their chases from the authorities. Principally however, La Pazza Gioia is an actor's game, and Paolo Virzi is working with two of the best here, giving them great material to work with.Beatrice is a gift of a role for Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who has a successful career as an actor in France and Italy and has drawn on her own aristocratic background as the writer/director of 'Il est plus facile pour un chameau...' and 'Un château en Italie'. Give her broad and she'll expand to fill the role, demonstrating the full range of her abilities from comedy to drama, from melodrama to more subtle exchanges and sensitivities. The dynamic is stretched further in the contrasting role offered to Micaela Ramazzotti as Donatella, who is searching for her son who has been taken away from her and into care. This gives the film a little more dramatic poignancy than the premise might suggest.More then than just being a buddy comedy or a vehicle for two great actors, it's the fact that there are two great performers in these roles that gives the film the necessary balance between comedy and more serious matters that are raised. La Pazza Gioia looks at some of the problems faced by women and how those troubles are not recognised or taken seriously in the no-nonsense modern world. It's enough to drive anyone crazy.

The movie begins by talking about a woman with whom at first it seems that you are going to laugh a lot. The problem for me is when nothing else starts you realize that it is wrong of the head and of course, as you can laugh at things that makes someone who is sick. Then you discover the things she has done that is her friend and then it is as if to put you on the defensive. Let any parent tell me if he laughs with this movie.The truth is that the two actresses are great, that can not be denied. They both play a great role, they get you to believe they're really crazy.It is relatively long, if it had been a little shorter it would have been better, there are things that I have left, I do not need to be told. And I do not need to justify what one of them suffers and why she suffers it, I think what she has done is worse.The picture is pretty ugly. I think it tries to create a warm and pleasant atmosphere, but it only creates a white light and too light.The direction I do not like, only directed the actors well, the rest is not good, is long and does not know how to narrate or move the camera.I do not think she remembers it in a few days

Whenever I review a foreign language film, I fully realize many people won't bother watching the picture because it's not in English. This is a shame, as many of the better films I have seen have been in a variety of languages and with "Like Crazy", you'd be missing a very good movie.The story begins in a psychiatric institution in Italy. Beatrice (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) is a patient, though she won't admit this to anyone…even herself. In her distorted mind, she is a countess… and the old mansion used as a hospital was donated by her to treat these unfortunate people! So, while at times Beatrice looks and seems very normal, she is severely deluded and self-absorbed. When a new resident arrives, Beatrice decides to make Donatella (Micaela Ramazzotti) her own personal project. After all, she is a rich, benevolent lady and helping the unfortunates is her life! So how, exactly, does she 'help'? Yep…she orchestrates an escape and soon the oddly matched pair are out on a joy ride…complete with stolen car.At this point in the movie, Paolo Virzi (who wrote and directed the picture) could have chosen to make the film a kooky comedy, like "Crazy People" or "The Couch Trip"…which is what you might expect with a Hollywood film. Fortunately, "Like Crazy" does not go there but manages to be rather poignant as well as realistic. You learn more about Beatrice and Donatella and their lives outside the institution but there are no magic solutions to their problems. After all, they are indeed very ill and mental illness isn't particularly funny…and is often quite tragic. Now this is not to say that ultimately this is a depressing or tragic film…and it manages to say quite a bit while still being believable and compelling.

I saw this at a film festival where it was very well received by an English speaking audience. As one of the lead characters talks almost non-stop and very fast I suspect the overall audience impact might be higher on Italian speakers. Certainly it is hard to keep up with the sub-titles at times. At the psychiatric care facility where the women live the daily cycle seems to be predictably noisy but largely routine until the two lead characters catch a bus away from their "work in the community" jobs at a nursery. Their usual transport is late and by catching a regular bus to the local shopping centre a series of escapades start snowballing around them. The "Beatrice" character is off her meds and seems to be having a manic blowout that leads her from one precarious situation to the next. The other character "Donatella" seems quite sober and somewhat surprised by their unauthorised leave of absence. As events unfold we learn more of both characters back story. Some sequences seem to be too coincidental to be true but most of the time the snowball of events keeps moving towards some moments of truth for each of the characters.Given that the film subject matter includes characters who are seen as crazy or mad by the system it is a real challenge to portray something of what that might be like from the centre of the storm - as it were.Mostly though the juxtapositions work and we learn something about friendships and maybe a few insights along the way.