The Cracker Factory

There are three kinds of TV movies. First, fiction stories which look like the big screen films, but cheaper: thrillers, comedies, westerns; nothing really exciting most of the time. Second, you have TV movies related to real life of people, gloomy, depressing, not the kind of stuff that most audiences will pay for in a theater, when they go to forget their daily problems, especially when they are with their kids whilst eating popcorn, eccept maybe some films from directors such as Paul Mazursky, Daniel Mann or Peter Bodganovitch. And third, you have, in TV industry, biopics, biographies of famous folks: politics, show bizeness, sport. So this one belongs to the second category, destined to home audiences, people sitting in their sofa and seeking in this kind of movies, some things in common with their own problems; with sometimes a bit of peeping tom line too. Guilty pleasure to observe distress, hopeles, despair. Nathalie Wood is of course excellent here and I think she did not play better for the big screen, where most of time, she played in major, famous movies, with only her presence, her beauty and charisma instead a real actress' play. In TV industry, at least, she could be a real actress and show her skills. That's my own opinion, i can be wrong. This movie is good enough for me but certainly not DAY OF WINE AND ROSES or LOST WEEK END. It is too light hearted for such a subject, not a comedy, but only not depressing, as I expected.

Burt Brinckerhoff's exceptional made-for-television movie "The Cracker Factory" based upon the Joyce Rebeta-Burditt book of the same name offers a phenomenal performance by the late, great Natalie Wood. Natalie Wood shines as Cassie Barrett, a suburban alcoholic housewife who's in and out of the local hospital mental ward. She gives a rare look into the turbulent life of a wife and mother who suffers from depression, alcoholism and slight mental difficulty. Wood's Cassie Barrett is a spunky, bright individual looking for answers as to why she can't seem to handle her own life, while others do. Wood is warm, witty, intelligent and adds a special glow to this perceptive film.

I had read the book by Joyce Burditt -- even wrote her a fan letter, so was prepared NOT to like this television movie. Boy, was I wrong. Natalie Wood plays a wise-cracking suburban mom with a severe alcohol addiction. She loses control in a supermarket and ends up on the seventh floor of a hospital where they put the addicts and mentally ill. She has a crush on her psychiatrist and a wonderfully warm relationship with the night supervisor played by Juliet Mills. She confronts the pain she puts her family through, especially the children. Despite the serious subject matter, she is so charming and witty you can laugh and then cry with her. Highly recommend.

An underrated TV movie.

Though it's a little dated and the variety of psychiatric stereotypes is a little annoying, but really it's a very good TV movie that I wish were available on video. It's one of Natalie Wood's best performances and she captures the Cassie Barrett character right on. The Cleveland setting gives it a great middle America setting and Marian Mercer, Shelley Long (before "Cheers") and the supporting cast are as up for this as is Natalie.

It's about alcoholism and promotes AA but doesn't go overboard in preaching to us. To the contrary, The "Cassie" character, thanks to the writing and to Natalie Wood, kick the wind out of the "typical" therapy people and methods.

I really like movies with people with mental problems, it's one of my favorite subjects, one of my favorite movies has always been "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (actor Sydney Lassick has a similar role in both movies). I didn't thought this "The Cracker Factory" would be so good. There are many powerful, extraordinary scenes, Natalie Wood and Shelley Long they outdid themselves. Delia Salvi is great in a supporting role, the scene in the cemetery when she starts hitting the tombstone of her dead husband is very impressive. Absolutely worth seeing and not only once, it's an original drama intertwined with comic moments. From what I read about Natalie Wood, her character in this movie, Cassie Barrett, is very close to her in real life.