I guess one could look at the Matthew Bright scripted, Tamra Davis directed Guncrazy as an updated-to-the-90's modern day Bonnie and Clyde where two down-on-their-luck youths(twenty-something LeGros, minor Barrymore), whose lives were disheveled by broken homes or troubled upbringing, form a fateful union where guns fall into their hands with crime certain to follow. LeGros, recently converted to Christianity while in prison on a murder charge, becomes pen pals to teenage Drew Barrymore(..it was a high school assignment to find a pen pal) whose mom ran out on her, and who is currently living with a loathsome lout once linked to mama.
I think the brilliance of Bright's script is how he builds to the ultimate crescendo of violence which erupts at the end, showing through a series of circumstances which tragically befall them(..two high school cretins who will not listen to LeGros who demands for them to leave the premises, and how they're unwilling to listen due to their desire to proposition Barrymore, Barrymore's murder of her mother's lover after he rapes her, the resistance against parole officer Michael Ironside's demand for LeGros to return to jail until he can be moved elsewhere resulting in the murder of a cop, failed burglary at a bar, the inability to find Barrymore's mother in Fresno), that they were doomed to suffer an inevitable fate.
They're very much victims of circumstance, a domino-effect-spiral culminating, bit by bit, until faced with a laundry list of criminal activities which follow one mistake upon another. What I admired about this particular film was the casting for the couple on the lam. Barrymore is adorable as a conflicted teenager, with a reputation for spreading her legs for many of the local boys, considered little more than trailer trash. She's without parental guidance or love, and LeGros fulfills these longings she has never known, he himself on the mend and hoping to find his place. Unlike the usual role of a recently released ex-con attempting to go straight, LeGros is handsome, modest, relatively pleasant and easy-going, not demanding anything of Barrymore but her love. He's not a monster, really, and quite vulnerable. He's also a virgin and impotent..which kind of adds a dynamic to his relationship to Barrymore for she's always been used for little more than sexual purposes. Joe Dallesandro has a very unflattering role as Barrymore's scum-bucket "father figure", a drunk pedophile who takes advantage of her(..and probably has perhaps contributed to why Barrymore is rather skewed in regards to her overview of men / boys;this has probably been occurring since Barrymore was a child), providing her with guidance in how to fire a gun properly.
Guncrazy can probably be viewed as a precursor to Bright's wicked, acid-tongued Freeway, known as his masterpiece. As is evident in this film, Bright seems drawn to "derelicts to society", the undesirables who seem to eventually fall through the cracks and into a life of crime. The amusing aspect to me in this film is just how poor LeGros and Barrymore are as criminals..the bar scene a particular highlight in how the victims are able to guilt the duo into returning their cash! Good use of California locations and the cinematography is at times inventive while also capturing / casting certain areas in a rather unsavory light due to the characters focused on(..impoverished rural places outside cities and certain areas of urban squalor)such as Billy Drago(..another in his many customary weirdo roles)as a mechanic / preacher who gives LeGros a job, room, and board. Ironside has the role of a slightly contemptible parole officer, a bigot(..towards "white trash", characters Bright seems to embrace)who doesn't like the idea of his daughter(Ione Skye)hanging around with Barrymore, and doesn't trust LeGros. I really was drawn to the off-beat nature of the film and how it cares for it's leads..I mean, despite their faults, they tried to carve out a decent life for themselves, allowing their impulses to ruin any chance of co-existing in a harsh world.
I think the brilliance of Bright's script is how he builds to the ultimate crescendo of violence which erupts at the end, showing through a series of circumstances which tragically befall them(..two high school cretins who will not listen to LeGros who demands for them to leave the premises, and how they're unwilling to listen due to their desire to proposition Barrymore, Barrymore's murder of her mother's lover after he rapes her, the resistance against parole officer Michael Ironside's demand for LeGros to return to jail until he can be moved elsewhere resulting in the murder of a cop, failed burglary at a bar, the inability to find Barrymore's mother in Fresno), that they were doomed to suffer an inevitable fate.
They're very much victims of circumstance, a domino-effect-spiral culminating, bit by bit, until faced with a laundry list of criminal activities which follow one mistake upon another. What I admired about this particular film was the casting for the couple on the lam. Barrymore is adorable as a conflicted teenager, with a reputation for spreading her legs for many of the local boys, considered little more than trailer trash. She's without parental guidance or love, and LeGros fulfills these longings she has never known, he himself on the mend and hoping to find his place. Unlike the usual role of a recently released ex-con attempting to go straight, LeGros is handsome, modest, relatively pleasant and easy-going, not demanding anything of Barrymore but her love. He's not a monster, really, and quite vulnerable. He's also a virgin and impotent..which kind of adds a dynamic to his relationship to Barrymore for she's always been used for little more than sexual purposes. Joe Dallesandro has a very unflattering role as Barrymore's scum-bucket "father figure", a drunk pedophile who takes advantage of her(..and probably has perhaps contributed to why Barrymore is rather skewed in regards to her overview of men / boys;this has probably been occurring since Barrymore was a child), providing her with guidance in how to fire a gun properly.
Guncrazy can probably be viewed as a precursor to Bright's wicked, acid-tongued Freeway, known as his masterpiece. As is evident in this film, Bright seems drawn to "derelicts to society", the undesirables who seem to eventually fall through the cracks and into a life of crime. The amusing aspect to me in this film is just how poor LeGros and Barrymore are as criminals..the bar scene a particular highlight in how the victims are able to guilt the duo into returning their cash! Good use of California locations and the cinematography is at times inventive while also capturing / casting certain areas in a rather unsavory light due to the characters focused on(..impoverished rural places outside cities and certain areas of urban squalor)such as Billy Drago(..another in his many customary weirdo roles)as a mechanic / preacher who gives LeGros a job, room, and board. Ironside has the role of a slightly contemptible parole officer, a bigot(..towards "white trash", characters Bright seems to embrace)who doesn't like the idea of his daughter(Ione Skye)hanging around with Barrymore, and doesn't trust LeGros. I really was drawn to the off-beat nature of the film and how it cares for it's leads..I mean, despite their faults, they tried to carve out a decent life for themselves, allowing their impulses to ruin any chance of co-existing in a harsh world.