Written by Caballero Oscuro 

Zachary is the fourth of five sons in a French Canadian family, with the first initial of each son’s name contributing a letter to the title of this film. He was born on Christmas Day, and is rumored to have magic healing powers as a result. He’s also unsure of his sexuality, a confusing situation made no easier by his conservative father and a thuggish older brother. Over the course of two decades, we watch Zachary grow from a sensitive young boy to a conflicted, odd adult, highlighting key steps in his development along the way.

At first glance, C.R.A.Z.Y. appears to be a gay-themed film, but Zachary is so unwilling to embrace his own sexuality that his orientation is never explicitly clear until the final scene. Instead, the film becomes more of a disjointed family drama, with substantial time spent exploring Zachary’s relationship with his parents and his least favorite brother. Dad is a straight arrow who cannot tolerate the idea of Zachary’s deviant behavior, while his oldest brother Christian is a tough, drug-addicted loser who is more interested in borrowing money to support his habit than participating in any constructive dialogue.

The film begins with Zachary as a young boy at the ages of six and eight, but rather than just providing a quick backstory it lingers far too long in this timeframe, sucking up about a quarter of the film’s length. This allows the audience to get a full idea of the initial family dynamic but doesn’t add much to the overall scope rather than prolonging the running time. We see young Zachary scolded for breaking one of his father’s favorite records, a rare import of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” (natch), setting up the inevitable resurfacing of the record later in the film. We see his initial confusion about his sexual orientation, but not enough to give a clear indication of which direction he might end up later in life. Zachary’s mother coddles him as a child, allowing him to pursue more feminine interests, while his father tries to steer him in the right direction by buying him a different musical instrument or sports-themed gift each year.