They say that since communism died, Russia hasn't been the same. Of course everyone knows their economy has suffered, but less is known about the insurgence of crime that has taken over that country, especially from the new mobs.
Crazy Six is a low level mob leader. His real name is Billy (Rob Lowe) and he's also a chronic drug addict. When he and his boys decide to rip off a rival operation led by Raul (played by Ice-T) he finds that he's in for a real gang war. Billy teams up with another rival mob boss named Dirty Mao (Mario Van Pebbles) in order to overthrow the power that Raul has.
Billy's girlfriend, played by an unknown Russian actress named Ivana Milicevic, has tried to overcome her drug addiction and become a one woman lounge act, suddenly is an unwilling participant in the war between the two groups. She wants to start a new life with her 5 year old daughter, but her involvement with Billy means trouble, not only with the other gangs, but in possibly falling back to the activities that got her in trouble in the first place.
Along for the ride is Burt Reynolds as a local law enforcement agent (I don't make these things up) who seems to come in whenever he's needed. His is the most vague character, and with the cowboy look fits into the picture the least.
Crazy Six leaves so many questions that you really don't know where to start. First, why is the film even set in Russia? There's so little indication, other than a few instances where someone says something in Russian, that the story takes place there that it seems a bit arbitrary to give it a specific location. It could have been in South Central Los Angeles, or the ghettos of New York. Second, who are these people? They are in Russia, yet hardly any of the cast is Russian. Rob Lowe? Ice-T? Burt Reynolds? Even Mario Van Pebbles uses a French accent. It's been said that Russia was the new land of opportunity...for crime, but did everyone outside of Russia see it that way and head over? The story is so vague and slow that you simply have to guess as to the motives of each character.
The film is so vague as to the motives of each character that it's impossible to really see the point. Lowe walks around in a drugged stupor the entire film, and Van Pebbles accent is so rediculous as to be laughable. Everyone in this film, with the possible exception of Ivana Milicevic, is miscast. She is Russian and, therefore, believable. The others don't pull it off, and keep us wondering why they are there.
