Advance Review: Call Me Crazy: A Five Film

The Lifetime made-for-TV movie – Call Me Crazy: A Five Film – will debut on the cable network this Saturday, April 20. And much like the 2011 Lifetime made-for-TV movie Five, which was an anthology of five short films that explored the impact of breast cancer in people’s lives, this sequel-like film is also an anthology, featuring an all-star cast in five separate stories about mental illness.

The film opens on the story of Lucy Miller (actress Brittany Snow from American Dreams and Hairspray), a law school student who suffers from schizophrenia. After a serious bout with the multiple voices heard in her head, she is committed to an institution where she meets a young man named Bruce (actor Jason Ritter from Parenthood), who suffers from suicidal tendencies (and with whom she develops feelings for). She is also cared for by a compassionate therapist, Dr. Nance (Octavia Spencer from The Help), who sets her on a path of helping others with mental illness (which is seen as the film plays forward).

Lucy’s story was written by Deidre O’Connor, who participated as one of the writers in the first “Five” film and was directed by actress Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help and The Twilight Saga franchise).

The next story focuses on young Grace, whose mother Robin (Academy Award winner Melissa Leo from The Fighter) is bi-polar. Grace spends her childhood and teen years (in which she is portrayed by Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland), taking care of her mother as best she can (her father left with Grace was still a young girl); all the while hiding the truth about her mother’s condition to everyone, including her best friend Izzy (Melissa Farman from Lost and Temple Grandin).

Grace’s story was written by Jan Oxenberg (writer for Chicago Hope and Once and Again) and was directed by actress Laura Dern (Enlightened and Jurassic Park).

The focus of the next story is on college student Allison (actress Sofia Vassilieva from Medium), who is driving home with her boyfriend Luke (actor Ken Baumann from The Secret Life of the American Teenager) so he can meet her parents, Claire and Hugh (actress Jean Smart of Designing Women fame and character actor Richard Gilliland). As it turns out, Allison is the younger sister of schizophrenic Lucy, who is coming home from her time in the institution.

Needless to say, Allison is not excited that her sister is coming home the exact same night that she and Luke arrive for their visit (and because of a very serious situation that happened between the two girls when they were much younger – I won’t spoil those details). But, the girls do have a tender moment that would make it seem that they are attempting to mend past deeds.

Allison’s story was written by Howard J. Morris (writer and producer on Home Improvement) and directed by Sharon Maguire (Bridget Jones’s Diary).

The penultimate story then focuses on stand-up comedian Eddie (actor Mitch Rouse from According to Jim and Without a Paddle), who suffers from depression. While Eddie is a great comedian, everything else in his life is suffering: his relationship with his friends as well as his relationship with his caring but frustrated wife Julia (actress Lea Thompson from Switched at Birth and the Back of the Future franchise). He has not only stopped seeing his doctor but also seems to be off his medication – not a good combination to say the least; but with support from his wife, he goes back for therapy with Dr. Beckett (as portrayed by actor James Avery of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame).

Eddie’s story was written by Stephen Godchaux (writer and producer on Spin City and Dead Like Me) and was directed by actress Bonnie Hunt (from The Bonnie Hunt Show).

Lastly, the final story focuses on returning Army soldier Maggie (Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson), who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by brutal abuse by her recently departed commanding officer. That trauma causes Maggie to snap one night, attacking her father (actor Ernie Hudson from The Crow and Oz) and losing custody of her young son Quinn.

But that is where a rehabilitated Lucy, who passed the bar exam (thanks in great part to Dr. Nance’s support as well as that of Bruce and her family), re-enters the story. Lucy volunteers to take on Maggie’s case, helping her to get her son back in her life.

Maggie’s story was written by Erin Cressida Wilson (writer of the film Secretary) and directed by actress Ashley Judd (from Missing and Kiss the Girls).

Other familiar faces in this anthology film include Melanie Griffith (from the film Working Girl), Aimee Teegarden (from Friday Night Lights fame) and comedian Chelsea Handler. And, among the handful of executive producers for this anthology were Jennifer Aniston and Marta Kaufmann.

While this film deals with a very deep subject matter, it does provide powerful insight into mental illness, allowing the viewer to see the struggles on a more personal level and hopefully providing a beacon of hope for those who suffer, or are affected by someone for whom they care about, from schizophrenia, PTSD, depression and being bipolar.

Call Me Crazy: A Five Film will debut on Saturday, April 20 at 8/7c on Lifetime.