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| Movie Review: Crazy Love Alternate Title: Love is Blind
Story: New Yorkers of a certain
age (that would be me) surely remember the headline grabbing tormented
(and demented) story of Linda Riss and Burt
Pugach when he arranged for some thugs to have acid thrown
in her face in the summer of 1959. Think about the media attention of
Joey Buttafucco and Amy Fisher and you have an idea of the sensationalism
surrounding this story at the time. Director and Uber public relations guy, Dan
Klores has brought this crazy love story to the screen in an
enthralling documentary. Klores had total access to Riss and Pugach
and they were more than willing to tell their 50 year story for themselves. Long story short, Burt (who was married) fell
head over heels for young Linda and smothered her with promises of a
rich and carefree life. When she discovered he was already married she
spurned him. He quickly evolved into the definition of a stalker (these
were the days before retraining orders) and decided if he could not
have Linda, nobody would. The acid incident eventually blinded her and
a sensational court case followed. It was a media frenzy for years. I am not going to tell you the convoluted details
of their relationship and how it progressed following his jail time
but I guarantee you will be scratching your head, dropping your jaw
and smiling quite a bit. Check out this crazy love story for yourself.
If it were not true it would fall into the comedy and tragedy genre
of film. Love is blind and in this case deaf and dumb
as well. Acting: It is a documentary, so no acting is called
for but these two characters and some of the talking heads come directly
out of central casting Predilection: I remember this story well and was,
like everyone else, captured by the nuttiness at the time.
Critters: None
Food: File footage of decades old birthday cakes.
Soundtrack: A fabulous soundtrack to make you tap
your feet and suck you through the warp of time.
Visual Art: The time warp gave us great visuals of
the trendy art on the walls, the beehives and the leisure suits, oh
my.
Theater Audience: I thought it would be more crowded
than it was on opening weekend. Sappy Factor: 0
Quirky Meter: 5
Squirm Scale: 0
Predictability Level: I had forgotten the end of the
story so it was a bit of a surprise to see what happened to this oddball
couple. Tissue Usage: 0
Oscar Worthy: No
Big Screen or Rental: Give yourself a quirky treat
and check it out on the big screen.
Length: 90 minutes
LOBO HOWLS: 7
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