Directed by: Albert Pyun

Starring: Rob Lowe, Ivana Milicivic, Ice-T, Mario Van Peebles, Burt Reynolds

Set "ten years after the fall of Communism", in an area known as Crimeland, Billy, aka Crazy Six (Rob Lowe) is a junkie who has had the brainwave of robbing Raoul The Spaniard. Unfortunately for Billy and his friends, Raoul recognises one of them and soon sets after them bent on revenge. Billy is saved by Anna, a nightclub singer, but can he get his act together long enough to survive?

Albert Pyun is a director who is revered for three particular films from the eighties and nineties: The Sword and the Sorcerer, Cyborg and Nemesis. Crazy Six is one of three of Albert Pyun's other films being released as part of a Cult Films collection by 101 Films. Unfortunately it doesn't reach the heights of his classics.

One thing the film does have going for it is its cast. Ice-T and Mario Van Peebles have both appeared in other films directed by Albert Pyun, and you can see why they'd be interested - especially Van Peebles, who gets to try on a French accent and act like a dandy pimp. Ice T does his usual scowl for most of the film. You may, rather legitimately, wonder what the hell Rob Lowe is doing in a film such as this, but one needs to remember that this film was made in 1997, a time when his career was in limbo and he was stuck making similar kinds of films. It wasn't until 1999 when he landed the role of Sam Seaborne in The West Wing that his career took off again. Here, he does a good job of portrayinga drug addict still reliving past glories and trying to escape his problems through a crack pipe.

The standout for me though is Ivana Milicivic, who plays Anna. Fans of the crime series Banshee will recognise her as Carrie Hopewell/Anastasia. Now, when the film starts, a hell of a lot of time is spend on Anna, singing in the club, smoking cigarettes - time which should be spent establishing characters and their plan to rob Raoul. So much time is spent on her in fact that I began to wonder all kinds of sordid behind the scenes reasons why it might be so. However, Milicivic comes into her own once she's introduced to the plot proper. Anna is an ex-addict herself, but has cleaned herself up and now works as a singer. However she's still attracted to Billy, who she once knew through her brother, and is almost willing to throw away her sobriety to be with him (he rather selfishly states he never wants to get clean). Anna's best scene is when she comes to her senses and walks off. Outside, she sees a young prostitute being picked up by a guy in a car. As she watches, she is able to relive the many times that she herself was in the exact same position, and the film does a good job of juxtaposing Anna with the prostitute.

As an action fan, I was very disappointed with the film's few action scenes. Everything is shot too close, and none of the cast really look like they know how to shoot weapons properly. Even the climactic shootout is rushed through as quickly as possible.

Albert Pyun does manage to bring a little artistic flair to proceedings however. Each scene is colour coded, depending on who is in it. For example, all of Burt Reynold's scenes have a golden hue to them, where as Crazy Six is in blue, and Ice T in red. Other than Ivana Milicivic, it's the most interesting aspect to the film.

Verdict:

Crazy Six starts off promisingly, with a nice setup and interesting cast. However, Albert Pyun is less interested in delivering a coherent action film as he is dwelling on Crazy's drug addiction and being enamoured/obsessed with Ivana Milicivic.

5 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)