Based on the novel by Mark Childress, the film takes place in the summer of 1965, and centres on an Alabama boy named Peejoe living in racially divided times. He gets a fast education in grown-up matters like freedom from the most unlikely of sources­his glamorous, eccentric and abused Aunt Lucille (Melanie Griffith), who escapes from her husband's clutches and takes off for Hollywood to pursue her dreams of TV stardom.

CRAZY IN ALABAMA marks the directorial debut of acclaimed international star and Griffith's husband Antonio Banderas.