Cool and the Crazy is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi and starring Jared Leto and Alicia Silverstone. The story revolves around an unhappily married couple in the late 1950s who both lead separate affairs. The film was Bakshi's first feature-length live-action film, is primarily known as a director of animated films which heavily utilize live-action sequences, such as Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic, Wizards, American Pop and The Lord of the Rings.
Cool and the Crazy first aired on the cable television network Showtime in 1994 as part of the series Rebel Highway.
Plot
High School sweethearts Michael and Rosy happily marry during the 1950s, both 18. Things go along smoothly until Roslyn gets pregnant, at age 19. The bills pile up and the two grow apart from each other. Roslyn spends most of the time taking care of their child and hanging out with her best friend, Joannie, who's married to a guy named Bobby. Joannie's been cheating on her husband with a man named Frankie. Roslyn is introduced to Frankie's friend, Joey, a bad boy who's also married. Immediately, Roslyn begins an affair with Joey. At first, Michael doesn't suspect anything, but when the two girlfriends go out at night and come back later and later, it dawns on him that they are both having affairs. Michael works at a design company with Lorraine, who's into the Beat and jazz scenes. One night, he goes out to have an affair with her. The next morning, however, his uptight attitudes causes him to back out of the affair when he learns that he's not her only lover. Eventually, Lorraine leaves to go to New York City. At the same time, Roslyn's trying to break off her affair with Joey, but he won't give up that easily. Varied events soon escalate in violence. Joey kidnaps Roslyn, and Michael goes after them and takes his wife back from him. Michael and Roslyn go their separate ways, and Michael hits the road.
Genre Drama Action Thriller
Written by Ralph Bakshi
Directed by Ralph Bakshi
Cinematography Roberto Schaefer
Editor(s) Larry Bock
Running time 84 minutes
Starring Jared Leto, Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Blanc, Matthew Flint
Theme music composer Hummie Mann
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
