Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

CRAZY LOVE


CRAZY LOVE (2007). Directors: Dan Klores; Fisher Stevens.

"He sees what he did to her every day -- I don't know if it's a joy or a punishment."

This documentary is the very strange love-hate story of Linda Riss and mob lawyer Burt Pagach, who hired someone to throw acid in Linda's face -- disfiguring and blinding her -- when she tried to break away from him. But the story only gets stranger after that, illustrating what some people will do for financial security and to combat loneliness. Frankly, the behavior of most of the people in this movie is shocking, including that of a policewoman-guard who stupidly does her best to reunite the victim and her abuser. Pagach, a supposed victim of child abuse and a pathological liar, comes off as a complete sociopath, which only makes Riss' later actions even more surprising. If ever a movie illustrated the psychological complexities of human beings, Crazy Love is it. The film starts off slow, but stick with it for some amazing -- indeed sickening -- revelations.

Verdict: Horrifying. ***.

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