Crazy on the Outside

Rating: Ignore

Just saw "Crazy on the Outside". Don't bother. Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Julie "Hot" Bowen.

Tries to be a crazy, off the cuff comedy about a guy who just got out of jail (Allen) and is trying to adjust to the world outside. He is beset upon by his former parter (Ray Liotta) who wants him back in the crime business, his parole officer (Tripplehorn) who he finds himself infatuated with, and a lying sister (Weaver) who is doing her best to protect him by...lying to everyone about where he was.

It loses it's focus early on. At first you think he is going to go crazy (plastic animals start winking at him, he sees brief flashes of himself taking his anger out on people around him, etc) but then it devolves into a plotless, tension free ride through nowhere. There are shades of a smart comedy a la Get Smarty or Big Trouble, but these shades never manifest in any substantial way. The craziness drops off, the relationships are bland and ultimately lacking in any sort of movement, and frankly Tim Allen doesn't come across as anything but a dope of a guy charming his shallow way through life. Not an ex-con who is slightly mad.

There are some really good scenes and acting (with a cast like that, how could you not have some good acting? JK Simmons plays Sigourney Weaver's lecherous husband, which is good for a couple of laughs) - but nothing ties the scenes together, and you see the relationship developments from a mile away. Not even the couple of scenes with Julie "Hot" Bowen can rescue this from being anything but a mediocre attempt at sophisticated comedic storytelling.

I give it a "meh" and would only recommend watching if it's a Sunday afternoon and you're still half asleep with a hangover. Because if you did pass out again, it wouldn't be a big loss.