kilowog [Film Festival 06.27.12] fantasy



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Thanks to the likes of Judd Apatow, it appears as if filmmakers are more delighted than ever to place their young and marginally talented children into their latest cinematic opus. Such is the case with the most recent effort from AMERICAN ASTRONAUT writer and director, Cory McAbee. Screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival, CRAZY & THIEF quickly relegates itself to being nothing more than a film class exercise showcasing McAbee’s real-life seven-year-old daughter, ‘Crazy,’ and two-year-old son, ‘Thief.’ Clinging to a plot only in the loosest of terms, the two sweetly yet haphazardly venture their way around the city of Bethlehem sputtering dialogue with no hope for a cohesive story. Joined to the festival circuit at the hip, there exists little hope for distribution, theatrical or otherwise for this jaunty, yet aimless endeavor.


Working off a large manilla envelope speckled with ink, Crazy aka ‘Vy’ towers over her younger sibling, the marbled-mouthed, Thief aka ‘Johnny’ and pronounces the piece of office stationary to be in fact a star map. Their mission is simple and juvenile in nature. They must follow the stars to complete what proves to be a rather unsubstantiated journey. It isn’t long before we realize that our plot refuses to get any more complex and we proceed to meander about the metropolis for an extensive, yet pithy 52 minutes. It’s not quite a short, it’s not quite a feature -- it’s not quite a film. As unaccompanied minors the duo draw very little attention drifting in and out of convenience stores, stealing lemons, and then peeling said lemons. If you’re wondering why you’re watching this, so are we.

McAbee’s camerawork is not without skill. Timed well with the beats of a more than solid soundtrack featuring the bounce rock stylings of The Bill Nayer Band, it’s easy to see why McAbee possesses a cult following. Setting the lens just where it needs to be and never much further, the director who doubles as the film’s cinematographer, allows us to feel just how it is to be a child of such young ages. He pushes us all the further to remember what it is like to be fantastical with our thoughts and ideas. Whether it’s following star maps made of ink or believing that a empty refrigerator box is a time machine; during such a time in our lives, there’s never end to opportunity or adventure.

Strung together by broad, but appreciated thematic elements there still remains little to save the incredibly sparse CRAZY & THIEF, and even less to keep this review from continuing.

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