Growing up in the 1970s in a devout Catholic household, a teenager wrestles with his sexuality in this French Canadian film that placed director Jean-Marc Vallée of 'Wild' fame on the map. The film gets off to a very good start, starting on the protagonist as a young boy with a lot of quirky comedy and some magic realism as he discovers he has gift for calming his baby brother, as he is told by a Tupperware lady that he has special healing powers and as he prays to not be a "fairy" while loving toys that girls tend to like. Wide-eyed Émile Vallée (the director's own son) is also solid in this brief turn. And it is brief because the majority of the film focuses on his teen and tween years, which are invariably less magical. Points of interest include a crush on a female cousin, the intimacy he also enjoys from smoking with other boys and his father's insistence in 'curing' any homosexuality. These issues tend to get repeated again and again though and soon lose their freshness. The quirky comedy of the initial section is mostly absent too. There are some nifty scenes in which he goes on an impromptu pilgrimage, but ultimately the film feels longer than it is. Marc- André Grondin as the teen/tween protagonist is certainly quite good; so is Michel Côté as his father throughout. In short, the film is watchable until the end, even if the first section seems far more powerful than what follows.
Review of C.R.A.Z.Y.
