So what do you get when you mix Christian Slater, Crispin Glover, Andy Dick and more in a '70s-set adaptation of a beloved Elmore Leonard novel? Well, you get "Freaky Deaky" which should be one of the more colorful entries at the Tribeca Film Festival later this month.
The story picks up with Chris Mankowski (Billy Burke) whose first day on the sex crimes unit of the Detroit Police Department does not go well. Not only does he fall for the first person to report an assault to him, he’s suspended for investigating the rich, powerful and completely drunk Woody Ricks (Glover). Chris takes matters into his own hands, only to discover there are all kinds of people trying to get something — money, revenge, or both — from Woody. From Woody’s former Black Panther nursemaid Donnell (Michael Jai White) who’s trying to work his way into the will, to Woody’s own yuppie brother (Dick), to sexy and dangerous '60s-radical-turned-romance-novelist Robin Abbot (Breanne Racanno), who blames Woody for snitching on her and her partner (Slater). Chris will have to navigate a mine field to get justice outside the law.
The film apparently has an out-there tone of something like the faux '70s exploitation flick "Black Dynamite," which would certainly explain the larger-than-life styled pics here. Charles Matthau directs the picture that he has been putting together and developing for a while now. The project was first lined up with William H. Macy, Sienna Miller, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser and Craig Robinson in the leads, but they moved on as the movie worked through development.
"Freaky Deaky" premieres on April 22nd at the Tribeca Film Festival.
