30 dAyS oF cRAzY: The Dream Team

Wow - I haven't seen The Dream Team in forever. I seem to have good memories of it, though, and Jess of the newly-resdesigned Insight Into Entertainment got to revisit hers, as well as take a look back at a career that's sadly fizzled somewhat (though everyone loved him in Toy Story 3).

Stay tuned throughout September for nuttiness and zaniness of all varieties - click here for the full lineup, and click here for prior entries (which won't do you much good today, what with this being the first - madness!).

For part of the 30 Days of Crazy Blog-a-thon, this movie represents some clinically crazy people. And for a twist, the movie does a good job of representing actual insanity. The year an actor makes it big - a new franchise, an Oscar, whatever - they also tend to make some totally out there movie. Last year Sandra Bullock made All About Steve in addition to The Blind Side. Back in 1989, Michael Keaton was the first big-screen Batman, creating the beginning of the comic book franchise phenomena. However, the same year, he also made a comedy with Christopher Lloyd (post-Back to the Future), Peter Boyle (pre-"Everybody Loves Raymond"), and Stephen Furst.

The Dream Team is the story of 4 mental patients (schizophrenic, delusional, christ-fixation, and mute) who are taken to Yankee Stadium for a game, but during a pee-break in an alley, witness 2 dirty cops killing another cop. Their doctor is beaten up, and they're left unattended. At first, they realize they can do whatever they want - ignoring the fact that they're crazy. Keaton, the delusional one, goes to find his old girlfriend, Lorraine Bracco, and realizes his life hasn't stood still while he was in the hospital. Boyle (christ-fixation) ends up naked in a Baptist church preaching before being rescued by Lloyd (schizophrenic - thinks he's a doctor). Then they realize they'll do better if they work together. However, they don't really like each other - they fight, their issues get in the way of making a plan to save their doctor from the crooked cops (Phillip Bosco and James Remar) who want to finish the job.

One of the funniest scenes is the four of them under an old refrigerator box running across the street in the rain to the music of "Everybody walk the dinosaur". With a little help from Bracco, the four of them manage to manipulate their problems and save the day. The whole thing ends well, but the movie has a darker edge when each character bumps up against the limits of their own mental issues. Overall funny, but is pretty dated now, though it's fun to see all of these actors from an earlier time.

Tomorrow: Simon goes down the rabbit hole that is Donnie Darko.