Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I'll start by saying its refreshing to see a movie that does not make crass and/or absurdist humour about the subject of mental illness (just take a look at any movie that portrays TOURETTES syndrome and you will understand what i mean. Tourettes is a debilitating illness, not just the occasional yelled obscenity littering your conversations. But anyway, onto the movie at hand.Crazy Love is about a woman who suffers a nervous breakdown and is institutionalised. While in the ward she meets a schizophrenic man and they begin a relationship. If you're reading this you've seen the movie so I won't go into any more detail.Many comments complain this film does not accurately portray the mental illnesses it depicts. Uh huh, that's without a doubt true but that's NOT the POINT of the film!!! If you want realism go and borrow mental illness information DVDs from your doctor! And so what if it's "glossed over"? The last thing you need if you are feeling depressed is a film that will make you feel worse.It was a film done on the cheap and by fairly inexperienced film-makers, so cut them some slack. Reiko Aylesworth is awesome in the main role. I'd never watched 24, so i was pleasantly surprised to find a new actress to be a fan of. Furthermore she's not too hard to look at either! The scene in the supermarket with the jars of olives...totally believable and I really felt for her.It does indeed have it's fair share of cheesy moments and romantic-drama clichés, but get over them. It does away with a cheap-shot ending and left me going "huh...that actually was a REALLY GOOD movie!"

I have a thing for stories with a twist. Be it about fantastic or mysterious stories or just forces of coincidences that rule the lives of everyday people as in this particular movie. In most movies, twists are what make them interesting. 'Crazylove', on the other hand, is a straight-forward movie about a twist.Life and love are very similar in nature - you never know what you're going to get. The best thing that ever happened to you could trigger a catastrophe yet out of the ashes, a phoenix could rise and that is the dualistic world we live in, yet can't ever seem to accept or get used to.Crazylove presents a perfectly plausible scenario. Indeed you could find the screenplay and acting a bit lacking but you're not going to catch this movie anyway if you're not after the twist that Crazylove is.Not a cinematographic masterpiece but an alternative to your everyday Drama/Romance flick. A well earned 7/10

Disclaimer: I found the acting in this good, though the dialogue was bad. My biggest problems lie with the story and characterization.First off, this premise has been done before (see: Benny and Joon.) And may I say it was done a heck of a lot better. You see, Joon actually acted like a SCHIZOPHRENIC. In this movie I have to say that the psychiatric ward was the most romanticized I'd ever seen; people acted a little strangely, but lovably so. And don't get me started on Michael who they said was supposed to have schizoaffective disorder. PLEASE. He had two psychotic episodes throughout the movie, and the last one was a result of not taking his pills (or should I say pill; it appears he only needed one! Man, that must be one HECK of a pill.) Yeah, I'm sure if they had a medicine like that every darn schizophrenic in the country would want it, because they completely subdued his symptoms despite anti-psychotic drugs being, well, not very good. Michael also showed no additional signs of schizophrenia, such as speech problems, flat affect, disordered thinking, fragmented world view, inappropriate emotions, and withdrawal from others. His immediate attachment to Letty was quite atypical. In addition to the lack of schizophrenia he did not appear to ever go through mania or depression.Then don't get me started on Letty or whatever her name is, Miss "Don't Tell Me Who I Can and Can't Date!" It was soooo obvious that she had no idea what she was in for. I loved when the psychiatrist was telling her about Michael's illness and she was essentially like "Whatevah! I do what I want!" She seemed to think that his mental illness was just a cute little quirk that would result in him taking her ring and sneaking out to order pizza in the middle of the night. I was just WAITING for the moment when she would realize exactly what she had gotten herself into. I expected it to come a lot earlier, and I expected it to be a lot worse than Michael trashing the apartment. But, hey, at least they tried. By the way, my mom left during the movie because she couldn't handle how unrealistic the portrayal of mental illness was.I also have to say that while A) Their relationship failing and B) Michael having to be re-admitted is the most realistic the movie got, it's also quite depressing. If they're going to show such a rose-colored, public-friendly view of mental illness, why not go all the way and have those two end up together? I felt as if I had wasted two hours of my life.Really, I see no reason to watch this movie: the psychology is inaccurate, and the romance doomed to disappoint (unless you like that whole "I watched the whole movie and they didn't end up together" thing.) The only good insight it had I felt was in the general public attitude towards mental illness and psychiatric patients, but you could get that in a lot better movies, in my opinion.

I'll have to admit, I had my doubts about this movie when I first read the teasers, but tuned in to it's broadcast on Lifetime Television. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. From the get go, the story took hold of me and at the end had me wishing for more.Reiko Aylesworth does as incredible job as Letty (Leticia) Mayer, a young, beautiful teacher who has the world at her fingertips. Or so it seems. As the story moves on, you quickly see that Letty's life isn't the bed of roses that it seems. Through the progression of the story, we go with Letty as she re-learns to live her life to the fullest and develops a real joy in everyday living that makes you smile as your watching. Bruno Campos plays Michael perfectly, charming, funny and just the type of man you'd want to sweep you off your feet. Almost....The transformation of not only Letty's life, but her closest family members is truly believable.The stellar supporting cast that includes JoBeth Williams and Marla Sokoloff as Letty's Mother and sister, Meatloaf, K Callan, and Paul Schulze as some of Letty's ward mates create such a believable atmosphere.But the spotlight definitely belongs to Reiko Aylesworth. She simply SHINES in this story. Even if you weren't a fan of hers before seeing this movie, you will be afterwords. This movie is definitely a must not miss. I can't wait for it to be released on DVD.