Drew Barrymore’s R-Rated 90s Road Thriller Completely Shatters His Girl-Next-Door Image
Written by Robert Scucci | Published
In the late 90s and early 2000s, Drew Barrymore was the ultimate girl next door. The same movies Wedding Singer (1998), Homemade Fries (1998), He’s Never Been Kissed (1999), and 50 First Days (2004) makes you wish he hadn’t been kicked out so brutally in time Shout outpainful opening sequence. In movies like Donnie Darko (2001), is one of the cool teachers who help Donnie navigate the environment he’s trapped in, and with his coded messages, he’s still someone you’d want to get close to because he has a warmth about him that’s hard to get close to.
Now, as a rational adult, I know that a lot of acting talent gets drafted, and once it explodes, it’s hard to go back to its roots. In fact, it is often discouraged. And although I know his earlier roles in experimental films like the 1980s Changed Countries and the 1984 adaptation of Stephen King’s Fire starterI will shamefully admit that 1992 Guncrazy wasn’t on my radar until this past weekend.
It’s hard to imagine a world where Reese Witherspoon returns to acting in films like this The highway (1996) or The election (1999) after becoming a household name with Legally Blondethe same can be said about Barrymore’s work post-Guncrazyan original thriller that portrays him as a well-behaved teenager who meets an ex-convict and becomes involved in a crime spree that dramatically escalates.
Barebones Road Thriller
Guncrazy it’s more of a character study in the sense that there isn’t much to talk about in terms of plot. Drew Barrymore is Anita Minteer, a teenager who lives with her abusive estranged mother’s boyfriend, Rooney (Joe Dallesandro), in her trailer home on the outskirts of town. Her class is tasked with finding a pen pal for the semester, and she becomes attached to a man named Howard Hickock (James LeGros), a violent criminal awaiting release for his recent good behavior.
Anita confides in her friend Joy (Ione Skye), whose father is a cop (Michael Ironside) who just so happens to be Howard’s parole officer and has a thing or two to say about a stubborn criminal who forms a relationship with a young girl. Before taking Howard, who admits that he has never slept with a woman and instead prefers intimacy by sharing secrets, Anita shoots Rooney in the back of the head while he watches TV and hides his body in the area.
The new couple ties the knot with a quick service from the local snake-wielding priest, Hank (Billy Drago), and when Anita feels free to open up, she confesses her guilt to her new husband. One thing you need to know about Howard is that he was on the road to change. He is so infatuated with Anita, however, that he is blinded by a new love and is willing to play with her.
Rooney had many guns that Anita taught him how to use, and one of the things he and Howard bonded over were guns. One thing eventually leads to another, and Anita’s shadow catches up with her. That is, he has built a reputation for adultery, so whenever he is imprisoned, he is threatened until he dies.
With Howard defensively in the mix, things quickly get off track and the body count starts to rise. As the couple continue their Bonnie and Clyde lifestyle, they seek shelter in an empty house, waiting for the heat to drop to plan their next move, but it’s clear there’s no turning back yet.
When Perishables Do Perishables
Although no one is truly innocent GuncrazyThe dynamic force in the play deserves to be appreciated by flipping through the text. Anita was born a victim and was dealt a terrible hand. Watching his life from the outside is scary, and it’s no wonder he hits the way he does. What makes things interesting, however, is how quickly he takes control of the situation. He does not have a good reputation among his peers or officials, and the person who is supposed to be his father treats him like a piece of meat rather than someone who should take care of him.
Magic in Guncrazy happens when Anita takes matters into her own hands and needs someone from a place she values equally to help her clean up the mess. Howard is the perfect patsy because he has served his time, he seems really changed, and it is suspected that he has never been with a woman before, despite the fact that Anita is only a child. He’s at an age where he’s romantically involved against his better judgment, and the law in many countries, but he’s also old enough to want to be a father to her, which was probably the most annoying sentence I’ve had to write in a while.
When Howard realizes how deep he’s fallen back into a life of crime because of his infatuation with a 16-year-old, there’s really no turning back for him. Either get played, or get into a dependent relationship with someone as unstable as him. Either way, he starts digging his own grave the second he starts writing to Anita, and it’s only a matter of time before he’s read his last rites.
Guncrazy is a well-made thriller from the early 90s that deserves more attention. Even if you want to see how tough Drew Barrymore was before getting typecast in rom-com after rom-com during his prime, it’s worth your time. If you went into this film not knowing who Drew Barrymore was, you’d be hard-pressed to think he’d be working on any other kind of project because he’s that good at it.
As of this writing, Guncrazy is streaming for free on Tubi.
