American Crime Story: Sick Little Monkey
Released on July 14, 2006 by 20th Century Fox
Production companies
Regency Enterprises
Scott Free
Produced and directed by
Ridley Scott
Screenplay by
Ryan Murphy with Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
Music by
James Newton Howard
CAST
Paul Feig as John Kricfalusi
Emily Osment as Blair
Walt Flanagan as Eddie Fitzgerald
Tobey Maguire as Chris Savino
Jared Leto as Bob Camp
Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump
Chazz Palminteri as Ralph Bakshi
Wil Wheaton as Danny Antonucci
Mike O'Malley as Obie Scott Wade
Jeff Daniels as District Attorney Michael Cherkasky
Morgan Freeman and Joe Mantegna as Detectives Pittman and Matthews respectively
Nathan Lane as Judge Orazio Bellantoni
Evan Handler as Alan Dershowitz
American Crime Story takes the viewer on a journey into the dirty mind of John Kricfalusi (Paul Feig) the man who was once hailed for ushering in a new era of television animation in the early 1990's. It also explores Kricfalusi's fondness for underage girls, culminating in the abduction of Blair (Emily Osment). The film devotes a generous amount of running time in the second act to the White Bronco chase that came to be known as The Day the Laughter Died.
The trial itself serves as the third act. Outside of the courtroom, Kricfalusi's former colleagues and rivals band together to offer their support to Blair. Testimonies from Bob Camp (Jared Leto), Danny Antonucci (Wil Wheaton) and Obie Scott Wade (Mike O'Malley) are portrayed as smooth sailing, but it is not until Chris Savino (Tobey Maguire) is cross-examined by Kricfalusi's lawyer Alan Dershowitz (Evan Handler) that the drama picks up. When Blair takes the stand, two more former Kricfalusi colleagues, Daniel Abbott (Tom Hardy) and Lynne Naylor (Thora Birch), are each excused from testifying at the last minute by Judge Bellantoni (Nathan Lane). Kricfalusi then takes the stand and shouts at Blair to the point of tears. Kricfalusi then berates Eddie Fitzgerald (Walt Flanagan), his driver in the Bronco chase, for having accepted a plea deal in exchange for a lesser sentence. The verdict serves as the climax, and the film ends with Kricfalusi paraded into USP Leavenworth by corrections officers.
Upon its release, American Crime Story received high marks from critics for its casting and dramatic pace. However, some reviewers, like Leonard Maltin of
Entertainment Tonight, warned that, out of all the films he has reviewed throughout his career, the scenes of Blair's encounter with Kricfalusi and the Bronco chase were the hardest scenes to watch.
The Arizona Republic did have one nitpick:
"To be honest, seeing Fanboy from
Mallrats get interrogated by Fat Tony and God from
Bruce Almighty was quite terrifying and hilarious all at once."
The San Diego Union Tribune had this to say:
"Sorry folks, the tears flowing from Emily Osment's cheeks when she takes the stand were NOT, and I repeat, NOT digital. She actually cried on cue during filming! She said her big brother taught her how to do it, 'cause that was how he landed
The Sixth Sense!"
And let's not forget one famous quote from the
Columbus Dispatch:
Do your mental health a favor. Skip
American Crime Story and go see
Bonkers a second, third or fourth time instead.
But then again, the
Detroit Free-Press had this to say about Paul Feig's performance:
"Feig's resemblance to Kricfalusi is so spot-on, so uncanny, it made
American Crime Story way too real to just be a movie."
At the box office,
American Crime Story was crushed by Disney's
Bonkers, which came out the previous week.