Reception
Get Crazy was released on August 6, 1983 to mixed reviews. One of the kinder reviewers was Janet Maslin of The New York Times who called it "hip" and "good-natured" and wrote, " isn't for everyone, but those well-disposed toward rock will find it energetic and funny." Box office sales were tepid as well: its domestic gross totaled US$1,645,711, and its theatrical run was brief.
Arkush said that "the scam they came up with to release it was to sell the shares in it to some Wall Street tax shelter group, and then put it out so it would lose money… just like The Producers (1968)! So nobody saw it—on purpose! It was so horrible to work so hard on something, and then see it just thrown away. The audiences that saw it didn’t get it. They didn’t understand how there could be a rock concert with all these different kinds of acts. My take on it? It’s a movie with three thousand punch lines, but only a thousand jokes. There’s too much zaniness, and not enough human comedy. It’s just too bizarre."
Nowadays, although Get Crazy is far lesser known than director Arkush's previous film, Rock 'n' Roll High School, it is a small cult favorite among fans of rock and roll movies; some critics consider it to be "one of that genre's best outings."
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