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Bieber burnishes Garland legend in 'Crazy'

PROVIDED

Waylon Payne and Ali Larter in a scene from the film 'Crazy.'

Biographical films of the Hollywood variety tend to be problematical, especially when the subject is a musician.

Too often they are freighted with the same story arc of tough childhoods, hard living, fractured relationships, drug or alcohol abuse and painful recovery. Even when true, it feels trite.

Then there's the tendency to play fast and loose with the facts, to amplify this, downplay that, and inject fictionalized characters and situations to augment the dramatic potency of the picture.

Sometimes, in the right hands, this works, as was the case with Taylor Hackford's "Ray" (2004) and James Mangold's "Walk the Line" (2005), to cite two recent examples. Other times, it's hackery or worse, an abomination.

"Crazy," written and directed by Rick Bieber, resides comfortably in the former category.

The name Hank Garland may not be nearly as familiar to audiences as Ray Charles or Johnny Cash, but within the recording industry his musicianship and creative drive were legend. A virtuoso studio sideman turned star act, the Cowpens, S.C., native, excelled in country and western, rockabilly, R&B and jazz in the late '50s and early '60s before an automobile accident derailed his career.

Working chiefly out of Nashville, Garland's playing was revered by Elvis Presley, with whom he made recordings from 1958 to 1961, but he was no less respected and sought after by the luminaries of country music (Patsy Cline, Hank Williams Sr.), rock (the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison) and, after a gig in Chicago exposed him to the great jazz artistry of the day, some of the finest musicians who have ever taken a stage and hatched a note.

Bieber makes it plain from the start that dramatic license has been taken, yet he is so conscientious about the key details of Garland's life, informed by hours of conversations with his subject and Garland's family, that "Crazy" has a bedrock feel of authenticity. More, it is the work of a filmmaker who genuinely cares about the story he is relating and the man at its core.

It is all the more impressive for being Bieber's first stint as a director. A long-time producer and writer with extensive film and TV credits, he has rendered a lively, emotionally resonant movie, with wonderful music, that is an uncommonly seamless meld of character study and period recreation. But the real surprise is not so much Bieber's deft execution — you expect a certain polish from someone of his experience — as it is the casting.

Starring as Garland is relative newcomer Waylon Payne (godson of Waylon Jennings), among whose previous film roles was Jerry Lee Lewis in "Walk the Line." Payne, possessed of considerable screen presence, also brings the kind of gravity to the performance that one usually associates with a far more seasoned actor. He gives us a flawed but principled man for whom professionalism and loyalty meant something. We also discover a musician who risked his livelihood (and perhaps more) to fight for musicians' rights in an era when they had few.

But at least as integral to "Crazy" is the story of Garland's stormy relationship with his wife, Evelyn, played to the hilt by Ali Larter (TV's "Heroes"). Formidable, fragile, voluptuous and complex, Larter's Evelyn may open some eyes. It is a zesty, largely sympathetic portrait that is deserving of attention. There is also strong support from the likes of John Fleck, Raymond O'Connor, Lane Garrison and, in the most touching turn in the film, Scott Michael Campbell as Garland's ill-fated cousin.

A fine script, co-written by Brent Boyd, is girded by the atmospheric photography of Craig Haagensen, the meticulous production design and sets of Philip Toolin and Linda Spheeris, and original compositions by Larry Klein, which add much to the recreation of classic musical hits of the era.

Garland, age 74, died in Jacksonville, Fla., in 2004, two weeks before Bieber began principal photography. At least he had the pleasure of knowing that a new generation might be introduced to his innovative music, that a thoughtful film was at hand. And in good hands.

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.

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