The plot was fresh and funny; the supporting characters were excellent (particularly David Morse and Lucas Black); the adaptation kept the essence of Mark Childress' book. So why didn't the movie work? Perhaps Melanie Griffith should avoid dark hair; it makes her look sick and old and malnourished. Perhaps subtleties of expression or movement are lost on a director who's "not from around here" and doesn't appreciate "here" anyway. At any rate, the book was a buoyant look at absurdity arising from tragedy and an affirmation that good will triumph over evil, eventually, although perhaps not in the way we'd have expected. The film falls flat.
I was amazed that IMDB voters gave this film a higher rating than "Crimes of the Heart," which had a similar plot (Babe Botrell shoots and hospitalizes philandering husband, uses the "he needed killing" defense; her entire family's reaction makes up the action). "Crimes of the Heart" was hilariously funny; "Crazy in Alabama" might have been but wasn't.
I was amazed that IMDB voters gave this film a higher rating than "Crimes of the Heart," which had a similar plot (Babe Botrell shoots and hospitalizes philandering husband, uses the "he needed killing" defense; her entire family's reaction makes up the action). "Crimes of the Heart" was hilariously funny; "Crazy in Alabama" might have been but wasn't.