Freaky Deaky (2012)

Disgraced cop Chris Mankowski (Billy Burke) helps Greta Wyatt (Sabina Gadecki) take down the movie producer (Crispin Glover) who sexually assaulted her. However, they get entangled in the bomb plot of two hippies (Christian Slater, Breanne Racano).

Adapted from Elmore Leonard’s novel, Freaky Deaky is an excellent, yet under-discussed thriller. A testament to Leonard’s writing, the characters drive the original plot. On this note, ensemble comedy Freaky Deaky becomes a great movie through its performances. Building upon his work in Black Dynamite (2009), Michael Jai White is at his funniest, especially when exchanging with Crispin Glover. Freaky Deaky is perhaps the go-to Glover movie, seeing him at his most-bizarre as an idle, impulsive, cannabis-addled millionaire. On the other hand, Christian Slater is also at his wittiest, as a bumbling, characterful bomber.

Together, the cast captures the ironic, hippie-era, hangout sparkle of Leonard’s dialogue. Equally, the garish costumes evoke the tongue-in-cheek excesses of its 1970s setting. Although sexy, haute and lots of fun, Freaky Deaky’s more serious moments call out abuses of power. The script asks why women still face the same tragic issues today as they did in the ‘70s. The movie is also eerily prescient of the MeToo movement, which would transpire later in the 2010s. Historically, Freaky Deaky looks into how the hippies lost their political purpose through drug addiction. This is certainly a film that needs to be enjoyed by more, revered as one of the 2010s most accomplished comedy-thrillers.