User reviews

Like many other reviewers, I feel this is a poor movie (screenplay), but Drew really captures the feeling of mental illness. I've known some people who are manic depressive (and a few schizophrenics) and I have to say that Drew must have some personal knowledge of severe depression to be able to pull off a performance like this. She really elevates the movie from a 2-bit teen romance and makes it worth watching. I'm not generally a fan (*hated* Donnie Darko) and I usually find her childish "damaged goods" image rather irritating even though it may be her real personality, but in this one she just embodies the part. 6/10.

Shirtless in Seattle, handsome blue-eyed Chris O'Donnell (as Matt Leland) has his telescope trained on jiggling blonde Drew Barrymore (as Casey Roberts). Later, the sexy high school seniors go to a concert by themselves, which is strange, and do some head-banging. They skip school and have fun driving her yellow Volkswagen around town. These two are attractive, affluent and in love. However, something seems wrong. To be with Mr. O'Donnell during a test, Ms. Barrymore pulls the school fire alarm. "What are you, nuts?" asks O'Donnell. "Yeah," she replies. This turns out to be true...

Director Antonia Bird gets all her spark plugs in line for a fine sequence involving traveling salesman Liev Schreiber...

Barrymore seems emotionally disturbed, with a confidential diagnosis. After a suicide attempt, she is committed. O'Donnell helps her bust out of the mental hospital and they go on a joyride to Mexico. Barrymore's road "games" are so obviously over the top, it's a stretch to believe O'Donnell doesn't catch on faster. Possibly, it would have worked better if writer Paula Milne gave him some substance abuse; the character seems too level-headed. Barrymore and O'Donnell look great together, but are unconvincing as an amateur "Bonnie and Clyde". Besides, it looks like car theft is legal in the southwest.

***** Mad Love (5/26/95) Antonia Bird ~ Chris O'Donnell, Drew Barrymore, Kevin Dunn, Liev Schreiber

This wasn't necessarily a bad movie, but it wasn't that good either. It desperately tried to cash in on the teen audience, with a "hip" cast and soundtrack, but as a teenager I couldn't really relate. Chris O'Donnell's performance was pretty bland, but Drew spiced it up a bit. It started to get better towards the end when we finally got to see the extent of Drew's depression, but the first 3/4 of the movie was such a paint by numbers approach to a romance that I'm not sure that it was worth the wait. Leaves little to criticize, but even less to praise.

It seems like the title of this movie was chosen at the last minute by the guy in the business suit. "So it's about a coupla teenagers, let's say they're 'in love', and one of them has mental problems, let's call her crazy..." The film itself though, I think, resists cliches, especially the fact that the four letter word (love) was avoided, which has a tendency to suck dry any useful plot content that might be found in a movie, opting for some different ways of illustrating their relationship. The two main characters are well portrayed, and believable. I think Barrymore and O'Donnell hold together something that may not have great elements like soundtrack, plot originality etc, because despite the fact that Drew's eyebrows really annoyed me, they both did a good job.

If you think driving a car with your eyes closed is fun, go ahead and rent Mad Love. For those of you who are over the age of sixteen and know better, there's no reason for you to see this movie. This quirky, reckless romantic movie starring Drew Barrymore and Chris O'Donnell is one giant teen-fest. Parents are strict and don't understand anyone else's problems, safety isn't an issue, and true love can be proved by raging hormones.

Now, since I am a proud '90s kid, I did see this movie when I was in high school. I'm not judging anyone who saw it, or even anyone who liked it. We all have nostalgia movies that remind us of our first loves, and if this is one of those movies for you, that's fine. Then again, since Drew Barrymore's character is crazy, maybe it's not fine and you need to figure out why you like this movie if it does remind you of your first relationship. My recommendation, since the 1990s are unfortunately over, is to take this movie with a grain of salt. If you didn't grow up in the decade where standing up in a moving car was a good idea and falling in love with a lunatic was just considered "young and reckless" then there's no way you can take this movie seriously. Just realize that Chris O'Donnell is going to be enormously stupid and Drew Barrymore is going to be enormously crazy, and let it go at that.

The high-school student Matt Leland (Chris O'Donnell) lives with his twin brother and sister and his father in a house by the lake. When the teenager Casey Roberts (Drew Barrymore) moves to the house on the other side of the lake, Matt snoops into her room with his telescope. They meet each other and soon they fall in love with each other. One day, Matt is taking a test at school and Casey activates the fire alarm to stop the test. She is suspended and her father decides to check her into a psychiatric institution. However Matt breaks her out of the hospital. They travel in Matt's car and have lots of fun until the day Matt discovers that Casey has bipolar disorder with periods of depression and periods of elevated mood. When she tries to commit suicide, Matt realizes that she needs specialized help.

"Mad Love" is a road movie with a tale of madness and sort of teen version of "The Girl from Trieste". Matt Leland is a good student and son that changes his behavior when he falls in love with the maniac depressive Casey that has arrived from Chicago. When she is interned in an institution, he believes that her family is unfair with the girl. But when he realizes that her mental illness is serious and dangerous, he contacts her family and they find the solution for her treatment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Amor Louco" ("Mad Love")

This film feels like an indie set-up but the mainstream stars (Chris O'Donnel and Drew Barrymore) give it a false sense of Hollywood glamour. Donnel's character is as bland as a blancmange, leaving Barrymore to seize centre stage in an even yet watchable performance as a depressed young woman. The problem with the film is we never know why she suffers. Not much is revealed about her parents or her upbringing. The film seems to have lost its way. what should have been a quirky indie film is spoiled by an obtrusive rock soundtrack that mocks the serious subject at hand. The cinematography is pretty poor too. All in all, a wasted opportunity for all concerned.

Hard to buy this as a love story when Matt is in love with crazy. He doesn't love her. Doesn't know who she really even is. All he knows is her crazy behavior. Showing his happy memories of her at the end is silly. Her actions and feelings weren't real. Oh, and this is not Depressive or Bipolar behavior and I'm bipolar. You don't talk to yourself like you're autistic (in the car as she's driving). Scene in the hotel room is not bipolar either. In any case she's out of her mind and not sure how anyone could want to be with that. Hard to buy but character was a kid so I'll give it a pass.

I liked the actors a lot. Plot could have been better.

I was initially drawn to this movie for two reasons - Drew Barrymore & seeing her play a kind, but mentally disturbed woman. The story was disappointing and the editing was choppy & lousy. I thought that Drew gave a very heartfelt performance, but it wasn't enough to carry the movie. The movie had little impact on me, & I would only recommend to die-hard Drew fans.

Nice movie about 2 teenagers in love. The girl has a depression what her boyfriend doesn't know, and when her parents have taken her to a psychiatric hospital, they run away together. On the road it gets clearer every time that this decision was a mistake, 'cause her behavior is getting out of hand.... Nice acting by both Chris O'Donnell and Drew Barrymore, and the music in it was great!

This is a love story, of sorts, which conflicts the viewer in that it tenderly presents this tragic heroine and then shocks the audience by eloquently demonstrating the ins and outs of the moderate-to-severe bi-polar disorder, with which the heroine attempts to live.

(The mother states her daughter suffers from depression, but Drew's depiction does NOT indicate depression alone. There are extreme highs and bottom-dipping lows, which would be more indicative of manic depression or bi-polar disorder than depression alone. Not to minimize the life-changing effects of clinical or chemical depression, because I'm not.)

Drew generates a stellar performance here, and fully sells the range of emotions her character experiences. Her portrayal is dead on perfect; in not just the disease itself, but her depth and range here is nothing short of phenomenal.

Chris O'Donnell is not as lacking as some would make one believe. He contributes an adequate performance as a young man without a clue; therefore, his character is vastly disliked because he comes off as clueless, and movie-goers associated him with the character. Go figure.

This work is seriously underrated, primarily due to the unsatisfactorily heart-wrenching ending, but also due to the audiences inability to conceive of Drew as anything but bubbly and intelligent. She customarily takes parts in which her character is put in a sweet (if rose-colored) light, whereas her role herein is quite edgy and tragic.

The screenplay itself is not solid. The flux is very fluid within this story. The only solid thing here are the performances by Drew and Chris, and the profound sadness and sense of loss experienced by its viewers via the execution of the story line.

I actually enjoyed this, though the ending IS unsettling and fails to satisfy.

It rates an 8.4/10 from...

the Fiend :.

I worked in a video store for 2.5 years. In that time, I was able to rent many many movies for free. Hence, I have seen many movies. None - with the exception of Empire Records - come to the level of disdain I got from this movie. I thought this was the worst movie ever because of poor acting, poor plot, and poor cinematography. In roughly the two hours that this movie span, I had no desire to see what ended up happening to the two stars of the movie - for all I care they could have died and I would have cheered. I have never walked out of a movie before, but if I had to see this one again I definitely would.

Chris O'Donnell heats up the screen and Drew Barrymore is at her sensual best in this motion picture about two teens who take an adventure together against parental wishes. I admit the first time I saw this movie last summer I didn't like it at all. But when I gave it a second try, I actually found it was really good. Because the movie isn't packed with laughs or memorable quotes, I had missed a lot of what made the movie such a good one in it's subtle, yet charming way (the first time I saw it). When I watched it a second time, however, I payed a lot more attention to the movie itself and saw that it did have delight, great acting talent and other positive notes. As well as this, the directing was fine and there were some really good shots through the characters' road trip in the movie. This is one interesting picture. A must-see! Rating: Three out of Five stars.

Even though my comment might not be like everyone else, this comment of mine is purely justify. I just not, not like this movie, I Hate it. It is my most pointless movie I have ever seen.

A high school couple run away from home after her parents put her into the mental hospital for clinical depression and trying to commit suicide.

Sorry to say but the movie suck big time. It have no plod (at all), it took over one third (or more) before they start run away and even on the road trip, it is damn boring. I see no chemistry between the two characters and the acting is dragging on and on. And the worst is definitely the ending, it seem the writer is tired of writing so that it, he put it to an end.

Reason To Watch: 1. Drew look great.

Reason Not To: 1. The movie has nothing (I really meant it). 2. Every thing about the movie is slow. 3. It simply suck. 4. One of the worst pointless movie, I have ever see.

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Rating: 2/10 (Grade: F)

Just when you thought movies in the 1990s couldn't get any worse, along comes this lumpy stew of a teenage romance. Boy meets girl at school; they flirt, they date, they run off together--the dramatic conceit being that she's mentally unbalanced. It isn't a fresh spin, although the filmmakers and the cast proceed like they're doing something new...and who knows, maybe the young audience targeted for this picture actually believes in these sentiments? I wasn't sure the picture could actually sink any lower from the ludicrous opening sequence (scored with an abominable rock song); unfortunately, it does. To those of us over 30, "Mad Love" is pretty excruciating--not to mention terribly irresponsible--and not quite the "wild and sexy adventure" advertised. NO STARS from ****

...how do some people get careers in this industry? This almost seems textbook: take two currently popular stars, put them in a standard plot device with a typical beginning, middle, and end; market it directly towards teenagers, and BINGO! You've got a movie that has no soul, yet is wildly popular.

Mad Love is an ineffectual, hopeless, counterproductive piece of movie making. My hopes and dreams for the future of Hollywood have been dashed... I guess 1995 just wasn't a banner year for some pictures.

A waste of film, time, and oxygen.

0.0/5.0 stars.

Ever since Chris O'Donnell appeared in `Scent of a Woman' with Al Pacino in one of his best rôles, I have been looking forward to seeing this young actor in more good parts. Am still waiting ……………… An old saying of mine says that where a lot of noise comes out, not much goes in; this would seem to be the case with most 18-20 year-olds today, if what we see (and hear) in this film and many others of like ilk are anything to go by.

`Mad Love' is obviously aimed at noisy 18-20 year-olds who do not have much stuffing inside their craniums, and so are easily worked up into all kinds of fathomless feelings, usually caused by lack of any emotional stability, either within or without their families.

The fact that Drew Barrymore leaves me as cold as a haddock on the fishmonger's counter is a good point to start from: she has not done anything to draw my attention (on the screen) and off it she has shown herself to be rather subject to some rather stupid behaviour; I presume this `whacks' with uncountable teenagers in innumerable towns and cities across the wide continent of North America, as well as in places dotted all over Europe. Despite more than 60 films in her curriculum, she has yet to show that she has the intelligence to be an actress of any standing. I suppose any actress has only to feel or seem to feel any emotions the director may require of her, and that these feelings must appear to be sincere: in this respect Ms. Barrymore cannot be reproached too much. However in this film you rather fancy that she has learnt a couple of things from watching other actresses in other films. There were moments in which I suddenly thought of `Thelma and Louise' – That is a real drama to be going on with.

The soundtrack should be called the noisetrack: basically made up of rock of doubtful parentage and a perfect lack of any criteria of selection. Very briefly interrupted by a soprano singing a fragment of an aria, which meant going south-west to Mexico. Now, if it had been `In The Ghetto' they may well have gone to Chicago – so much sense all this makes. However, not even a great big enormous truck loaded with 500 tons of timber can put and end to their/our misery, unfortunately.

Without a doubt, Antonia Bird and her writer Paula Milne tried to tell us something with this film, but if their intention was to make another of those folklore road-movies, they were derailed from the outset.

This film can only be of any interest to all those who write praising it with all kinds of grammatical, syntactical and orthographical faults: evidently, to pursue the point, the film has the same intellectual level – or lack of it.

Would you be so kind as to put a zero on the voting scale, please? No, O'Donnell's tears at the end must make the film worth 2 out of 10; but don't nark me in case I take them off. Who cares ……..?

"Mad Love" isn't one of the all time great films, however it is my favorite bad movie. I think that Drew Barrymore is charming and this movie allows her to be a little crazy and very beautiful. Chris O'Donnell is definately eye candy in this little gem. The filmmakers tried to use colour and imagery in an artistic manner. Watch the blue and whites of the film, and check out the symbolic use of butterflies. Although the usage isn't necessarily intellectual, there is a valient stab at being artistic. I think that another interesting aspect of this film is in comparing it to "Scent of a Woman". I feel that these two films are essentially the same, with the notable exception of Al Pacino vs. Drew Barrymore. Really though, "Scent of A Woman" has Chris as a good boy who goes on the lam with Al. Al does all sorts of crazy things, such as driving despite being blind, and eventually holds a gun to Chris. In "Mad Love", Chris is a good boy who goes on the lam with Drew. Drew does all sorts of crazy things, such as covering Chris' eyes while he is driving, and eventually holds a gun to Chris. Coincidence??

I will say now that I love Drew Barrymore. I think she's gorgeous, talented and a wonderful example for others. It's now as though I don't want to like her films. I do want to like them, and usually I do. But I will also say now that I hate her movie 'Mad Love'. I think it's idiotic, pointless and boring. I have given this movie a 3- the lowest score I've ever given so far. There are others that got a 4 that were equally bad as far as plot or character development or what have you. They, however, had something going for them- a standout performance by one actor, great visuals, or maybe they were just dumb fun. 'Mad Love' has none of those things to recommend it. Chris O'Donnell is far from my favorite actor, and his performances seem permanently set to 'bland'. This is no exception. And much as I love Drew- and I do- her performance here is, as some far more distinguished reviewer than I put it, "little more than an annoying twitch". The soundtrack is as self-conciously hip as the movie tries to be. Why this movie proved to be so popular among some of my young female peers, I don't know. Maybe it just spoke to them in a way that it did not to me. A disappointment and a waste of it's lead actress' time.

Well, I have to say I really did like this movie. I went in expecting to hate it. I really tried hard to hate it. Normally I hate the "romantic mush" type films, but... this movie actually transcended that. Instead of focusing mainly on the love, they focused on the mental illness. Heh, I have some issues myself, so I was able to relate quite a bit to her character. I'm severely agoraphobic, so I'd never run away, lol. I love Drew Barrymore. I think she's sexy through and through, absolutely adorable to boot. I will give any movie with her in it a chance. Some I loathe, some I like, some I love. "NEVER BEEN KISSED" is one that I loathe... But oh my, she was so cute! - I say everyone should give this movie a chance. Ignore the "violent" behavior and the irrational behavior, because you can't properly portray such a mental illness without it. I also don't think a movie dealing with mental illness to this depth should be rated R. I love that this film showed that those of us with mental illness are people too. We too have feelings. I wish I'd watched it sooner rather than just assuming I'd probably not like it.

Matt Leland (Chris O'Donnell) has talkative best friend Eric (Matthew Lillard). Matt is taken with new girl Casey Roberts (Drew Barrymore). They begin a wild relationship. She gets suspended and her parents put her away. He helps her escape the psych ward and they go on a road trip. However, her manic depressive state gets more volatile and beyond his ability to help.

I never bought Chris O'Donnell as a romantic lead. He's too white bread and doesn't have the passion. This is love at first sight and who can blame him. Drew can do that to many men but I don't see them as Romeo and Juliet. Drew is convincing with mental illness but it is a little overwrought. I'm not really that invested in this relationship. This is a lesser 90s teen melodrama.