Never watched "E.R" so this was my first experience with Eriq La Salle, very satisfying. Michael Beach was familiar from "Third Watch" where he played a likable, intelligent doctor, as he does in this film. Ty Adams, the controversial and outwardly over-confident psychiatrist, claims to "cure" mental illness without drugs. His outward egotism covers deep neuroses of fear and self-doubt, especially since his drug-free treatment resulted in the suicides of his daughter-patient, and then his devastated wife. Ty soon finds himself in conflict with Dr. Delazo (Ronny Cox), the passionless director of the mental hospital. Stress increases exponentially when Ty is assigned a new patient, the Man who calls himself Satan (Eriq La Salle). Satan seems competent, not psychotic, and he volunteered for treatment because he wants a soul. Outwardly charming and perceptive, Satan is compellingly honest yet marvelously deceptive. Every confrontation reveals a different incarnation in appearance and affect. Satan slowly strips Ty of his self-deceptions, revealing his inner demons and inability to cope. The last scenes took me by surprise, as each character is revealed in demonic form, and Ty's protestations don't save him from the fate he chose for himself. This film will stand on its strengths of characterization and theme even when the twists are no longer a shock.
Review of Crazy as Hell
