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| I didn't know that
Antonio Banderas wanted to direct. But then, what do any of us really
know about him?
That he is handsome, charismatic and can look a woman straight in the eyes with that kind of hypnotic machismo that is (embarrassing, but true) kind of irresistible? That he can act? ( If you doubt it take a look at his early movies with Spanish director Pedro Almodovar such as Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down.) Even as I wrestle to come to grips with the question "Who is Antonio?" comes a left turn in his career: his directorial debut. |
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The man with the cutest Latin accent since Ricky Ricardo has taken on Crazy In Alabama. Based on the best selling book by Mark Childress, who also wrote the screenplay, the movie is a little slice of Americana. It's set in Alabama in 1965, where the civil rights movement is heating up. Into this setting is plopped a backwoods boy, Peejoe Lucas Black, and his unconventional Aunt Lucille, Melanie Griffith (a.k.a. Mrs. Antonio Banderas). Aunt Lucille kills her abusive husband and chases the Hollywood dream right to Los Angeles. Add to the mix Aunt Lucille's brother, Dove Bullis, played by David Morse, who's a good ole, southern boy trapped between the old ways and the new. The cast is rounded out by Cathy Moriarity, Meat Loaf, Rod Steiger, Robert Wagner, and Elizabeth Perkins.
This is the kind of movie that requires a director with a deft touch, an interesting sense of humour and an ability to showcase characters. No question Banderas has cast some of Hollywood's most interesting characters. As for his sense of humor, I guess we're about to find out. If we're lucky, he will be the kind of director that knows how to make one of those movies that take the time to show us that there's nothing ordinary about ordinary people. -Karen Gordon
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