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27 reviews in total

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24 out of 38 people found the following review useful:
It means well, has potential, but..., 9 January 2010

Author: saucyswells from United States

Tim Allen's directorial debut is very hit and miss...sadly, mostly miss. The movie needs a lot of editing and a completely different third act.

The film starts as an offbeat comedy...and even though there are no hardy belly laughs, there are a number of clever ideas and lines (many delivered by the under-appreciated JK Simmons). But with an all-star comic cast, you would think there would be more, ahem...comedy. Halfway through the film becomes more of a family drama. The humor totally disappears and the quirky oddball characters become normal. The third act is very cliché, generic and melodramatic. But all the performers give it their best---even players like Ray Liotta and Kelsey Grammar are playing parts that could have been done by anyone. And the film's one running gag is actually funny for a while, but it goes nowhere after the 100th mention.

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14 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
What A Yawn Fest..., 29 June 2010

Author: DiamondGirl427 from United States

Yes...it was a comedy..sort of. It was also suppose to be entertaining as well...which is barely was. The characters had no depth..you could tell these people were acting..and that the script wasn't something worth bringing to the big screen much less as a bargain rental from a Red Box. The movie offered major stars struggling through as if they never bothered to learn their lines...or simply did not care to. I get that Tim Allen obviously is a major player in Hollywood...and seeing how his other films have been HUGE successes...this one falls flat. No one could possibly believe this character had committed ANY crimes at all..no matter how minor. Even the "bad guys" seemed weak. Ray Liotta has made his mark in films being a bad ass...here he seemed about as dangerous as a kitten. I hope if Mr. Allen and company decides to do another film...they find a storyline with more depth to it...Please.

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9 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
Nothing crazy about "Crazy on the Outside", 31 March 2010

Author: geraldgreen525 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This past January, Tim Allen reemerged from his two year hiatus to direct his first full length feature, "Crazy on the Outside," a movie in which he was also the lead. Tim Allen is a good guy and his work will a bona fide guilty pleasure (looking at you Santa Clause), but there is nothing remotely crazy about "Crazy on the Outside." At one point in the film, Allen's character, Tommy, probably wishes he were back in prison. Presently, Allen probably wishes he hadn't gone through with this mellow, clichéd film that can most positively be described as "watchable."

In "Crazy on the Outside," Tommy (Allen) is released from prison after serving a three year sentence. Looking to bounce back and avoid the mistakes he made previously, and under the watch of his deceiving sister Vicky (Sigourney Weaver) and his probation officer Angela (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Tommy starts to rebuild his life. Holding down a job at a local burger joint, Tommy originally attempts to win his old flame (Julie Bowen) back while trying to restart his father's painting business; however, as things move forward Tommy seems to be gaining interest in Angela and vice versa.

It's difficult to find any elements of this film that aren't negative. If anything, "Crazy on the Outside" is an enjoyable movie to watch if you want to kill time or maybe if you still have parents that are awkward to watch smut movies with and love Tim Allen; if so, perfect match. Every part of "Crazy on the Outside" is artificial and recycled. Its craziness is limited; in fact, as the story unfolds you'll find yourself wondering: "when will something entertaining happen?" Allen's type of humor certainly isn't unanimously praised; however, he has his moments; sadly, none of which appeared in this movie. The gags and jokes aren't even close to being humorous and the silly moments that are tossed in, such as a pirate statue winking; only hurt the film's name.

"Crazy on the Outside," like many movies before, appeared to give a glimmer of hope from the trailer, but managed to fall into the safe, cliché mold that's come to be expected. The story is about as predictable as any other; from the very beginning it is obvious that Tommy will eventually end up with Angela. To make matters worse, there wasn't even question how the two would end up together. "Crazy on the Outside" follows the typical romantic plot structure of build up, connection, disaster that rips lover's apart, rock bottom, motivation to not lose each other and reconnection. The worst part of the story is by far Angela's son Ethan who acts as the spark plug of Tommy and Angela's relationship. Ethan knows that he wants Tommy as a father figure in his life after only their second meeting and it comes off as relatively creepy and extremely unrealistic.

Certainly, Allen will be used as a scapegoat, but there wasn't a lot to work with as far as the script goes. The only way to describe Allen's directorial debut is that he took the safe route. On an acting stand point, Allen is Allen and nothing more. The trailer made "Crazy on the Outside" appear that it'd feature a more vulgar performance from Allen, which would be a welcome sight; however, that didn't end up being the case as he was blocked by a PG-13 rating, which will undoubtedly be the downfall and killer of "Crazy on the Outside" as not only is it normal, it isn't crude.

Aside from Allen, "Crazy on the Outside" features a lack of J.K. Simmons and Ray Liotta, two praiseworthy actors caught in roles that didn't need to be in. In fact, Liotta isn't even utilized correctly in his scenes as his angry, aggressive persona is completely absent. Weaver may just be one of the film's few bright spots as she plays Allen's fibbing sister quite well and offers a good deal of care and spunk for the film. Weaver's Vicky could possibly have been the only crazy aspect of "Crazy on the Outside" as her lies only become more monumental as they come and are the closest thing to entertainment.

In "Crazy on the Outside," it all returns to the fact that it is false displayed. There is nothing out of the ordinary in the movie and it follows a familiar path. For the most part, its characters, actions, jokes, gags, storyline and romanticism are empty, recycled and lifeless. Sadly, this is a step backwards for Tim Allen, both from an acting and directing standpoint, especially since he probably viewed it as a safe film. At the end of the day, Allen didn't deserve to be connected with this project; though he must have been crazy on the inside to have gone through with it.

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Not as bad as Adaptation, but not worth watching either., 28 August 2010

Author: destruk-830-818397 from Colorado, USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

90 minutes with three chuckles, this film fails to provide much entertainment. JK Simmons is actually the best actor in the film and he gets a bunch of one-liners. This movie's target audience is one who requires all their thinking to be done for them - the 1:20 is simply wishy washy everything goes my way type of thing for Allen, then he gets a very minor problem at 80 minutes in, and has 10 minutes to make it right. Just in case you weren't paying attention we get a zoom in up close and personal with writing on the screen to tell us to pay attention to this problem - it is stuck in your face so deep you can't miss it. You will come away from this movie remembering 3 things and that's all - it could have been a 10 minute infomercial rather than this POS.

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4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Mostly harmless, a major waste of time, 14 June 2011

Author: Neuenschwander9 from Königsberg

Whoa! This was quite an experience getting through this film. Man it sucks. Maybe I just don't get the comedy elements of Tim Allen cinema. It's just weird. What is strange is that this flick has a lot of comedy elements and yet there is a close up of a man getting shot to the head from point blank range. Twice. How on earth can you combine these two and still keep the whole intact. My answer is you can't. I mean imagine Seinfeld delivering a punch line and right after that blowing George Costanza's brains out. There's a lot of gunfire but everyones aim is off by some meters all the time and yet suddenly they hit someone with great precision. This is as bad as The SANTA CLAUS just to give a point of reference. Just a bunch of good looking babes running around wearing little or even less. Comedy sequences are catastrophic. Complete chaos and inconsistencies. All possibilities of good fights are ruined by horrible editing. Do NOT waste your time watching this unless you are sure you don't have anything else to do. Myself I'd rather cut off my right hand than watch this again. And yes I'm right handed.

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12 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Barely Watchable, 16 April 2010

Author: leftoverbot from West Central Indiana, United States

Let me first state the fact that I can watch and enjoy just about anything. This, however, was a slow, rough ride. "Crazy On The Outside" deserves an award for the most predictable movie ever made. I liked the cast but as a comedy, drama, or even a love story, it was weak. Also it seemed like the whole movie was shot too dark for the kind of film it was intended to be. The only characters that really achieved any depth at all were Allen's and Weaver's. I gave this a generous 4 out of 10.

And another thing that irritated me was all of the little special effects they kept tossing in as (non)humorous filler. I am referring to Allen's mother in black and white in the truck and the anger-meter when his sister made him mad, etc.

Also the two love interests were annoying despite the fact that Julie Bowen is one of the most visually perfect women to have ever walked the face of Earth. Jeanne Tripplehorn's character left me thinking that Tommy would have been better off in prison.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
It kind of was what I expected, 28 August 2012

Author: zizumia from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The only reason I stumbled upon this movie was I was unable to sleep, and I needed to watch something to pass the time. So I saw that Tim Allen was in this film, but I really only saw him good in Home Improvement, so I did not expect much.

My expectations were correct, the movie was pretty bad. I could not watch it all the way because I just got too bored The storyline seemed to be dull and boring, and it was not well made The only reason I watched it for more than 5 minutes was because I chuckled a few times at the part where they substitute the word "Jail" for "France". By the time Tommy started trying to prove he was good enough to be some painter to his Parole officer it really got boring, and it seemed more like he was whining about his life more than doing anything productive. By the time he found his old Girlfriend and then she started cheating on her husband or boyfriend, I turned it off, because it really went downhill and was too cliché for me.

It was a bad movie, I will not recommend it to anyone, but honestly I really did expect it to be bad. I wasted about an hour of my life watching that movie though.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
boring and flat, 4 July 2011

Author: from United States

This movie should have been good, but just fell flat. I can't put my finger on why exactly. From the first minute, it's boring. The acting is not good, even Sigourney Weaver is not good! The script is flat.

Nothing really happens. We watched this for about 45 minutes and just couldn't take it any longer.

The main character is released from prison and supposedly trying to restart his life. It doesn't make much sense. The grandmother supposedly believes he's been in France for three years rather than prison. The sister (Weaver) is domineering towards her husband but flakes when around her brother. Doesn't make sense. The parts that are supposed to be comedy (Allen's character daydreams about violently attacking various characters) - aren't funny in the slightest.

I felt like it SHOULD have been at least okay, but just wasn't!

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Seriously i could not complete this movie, 10 September 2010

Author: not_u_h from Saudi Arabia

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

When i saw the poster of the movie i thought this is what i want to watch a relaxing And a hilarious movie . but it was so much far of any doubt i had before . the acting is so slow and very emotionally poor I could not even tell if this is movie is a comedy or dramatic .. So i stopped watching it after only 16 minutes i just wasted my money and i cant even waste my precious time on it ..if u like the slow progress story.. a cold and none sense acting watch this ......!!.. i can only admit that the story is Little bit interesting but it got in the wrong hands . the acting and the direction was too bad even the sound affect is not attractive .it made me sleepy .the movie also misses the element of the surprise .. as the story is new and the title is Crazy outside.. i only could see a normal people and behavior . even the scene if kidnapping was not too much ..the music did not help the scene .

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
One of the best recent comedies, 29 August 2011

Author: Max Krause from Belgium

I've had actually quite negative initial approach to this movie, regardless Sigourney Weaver's involvement who is my favourite actress. That was mainly caused by many extremely negative reviews. It's shame on me as usually I try to judge myself and never based on the reviews of critics who are very often doing weird statements. Crazy on the outside is an another example of underrated movie, totally crushed by critics. I have really enjoyed that movie. It's a debut of Tim Allen (Galaxy Quest, Toy Story) as a director. He is also a main role, a guy called Tommy, who has just left prison and wants to start new life, far from criminal past. The story shows that it won't be very easy for him. He is fully supported by his crazy sister, played by Sigourney Weaver (who teams up with Allen again, after brilliant performance in Galaxy Quest, 1999). And actually Sigourney, who isn't main character in the movie, is one of the best, if not the best element of Crazy on the outside. Of course story isn't brand new, dramatic conflicts are obvious, but this movie is great fun and provide solid, not stupid dose of humour. DVD release contains good sound and picture with English subtitles. It's really worth of your time.

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