Such a frustrating disappointment

Really Surprised!

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Wonderfully acted, great dialog, great cinematography, great soundtrack. This movie was a most pleasant surprise. Give it 15 min and if it hasn't pulled you in then the movie just isn't for you. I honestly can't believe why anyone would give this movie less than a 7 but who knows. The movie is honest, the dialog is not laughable as one reviewer mentioned. "I tried to drown the monsters in my head but they learned to swim," the main character says about his struggles with alcoholism. Jake Busey is great in this film. I have seen him in various movies over the years and he is perfect for this movie. One of the best movies to come out of 2012 regardless of financial success.

. . . and why isn't any of the alleged $10 million budget shown on screen? I could see that the part where Rebecca totals her junker car on a fountain or something might cost a few hundred bucks to stage, but the TV career actors who "grace" CRAZY EYES just seem to be picking up paychecks, as nothing really heartfelt is conveyed. The plot of this flick leads absolutely nowhere, and there is not one character who earns even the tiniest smidgen of empathy. When one finally croaks, the viewer only wishes that the whole story was taking place inside his head, which would have ended this miserable mess right there. No such luck. This story states that the 8 million residents of the L.A. area are entirely interchangeable in protagonist Zach's opening voice-over, and Lukas Haas as Zach does a good job of convincing those unfortunate enough to watch CRAZY EYES through to the close that "Zach" was right: no guy alive in Hollywood could have done a WORSE job of playing Zach as a booze-swilling womanizing loser with totally nothing to remember him by. (Tip for Haas: rent Nick Cage in LEAVING VEGAS.)

Like the other reviewer, I wanted to like this film. It began with very real-seeming characters in Los Angeles dealing with the dysfunctional male-female dynamics there that can cause relationship difficulties, and I thought, maybe this is going to be like Swingers.The problem is that the characters are SO vile, unappealing, and the entire film is so full of hatred and awful dialogue, that I couldn't care less what happened to any of these people. All the female characters were basically drugged-out whores (except for the mother whose main dialogue line involves some insane comment about not going to restaurants because of black mold...?) But all the other women are portrayed as unintelligent, money-grubbing, shallow and promiscuous and have absolutely no redeeming qualities. And the main male protagonist is so incredibly unappealing that I cannot understand what the viewer is supposed to be hoping will happen - he continuously treats every woman awfully and then acts frustrated that his women are not noble and are all basically treating him in a shallow way. It boggles the mind. And he is a (bad) father to a small child as well. I really have not much else to say except to avoid this movie at all costs if you value your time. None of the characters learns anything, grows in any way, or is remotely interesting.

It's a drinking movie where the photography matches the mood, it's litup, darkly. So going into the theatre you are really headed into a good and dark bar. The story is set during the holidays, so it would be a good view then. The opening may set the tone as well as Bob in the ambulance and Abbey Lincoln on the score in Drugstore Cowboy. That's high praise.It's a drinking movie with some good lines, too, from barkeep Busey; unlike the drink, the actress Zima is a convincing hookup and cheapie, gives good slur; Haas has a convincing Angelenoaire to his character.And because it's a drinking movie, I'm still not sure if crazy eyes even exists, guess it takes some to see that one.