This is a frothy, bubbly look at a truly disturbed relationship, and while the documentary’s flippant style is entertaining, it does a disservice to the real pain and self-delusion that are at the heart of its story. Burt Pugach, a womanizing con man by his own account, met Linda Riss, a younger woman with movie-star beauty, in 1957 and became instantly obsessed. They dated for awhile, but when he refused to get a divorce from his wife the relationship soured – to the point that Pugach hired some goons to throw lye in Riss’ face, which eventually left her blind. The delightful irony – at least in the movie’s view – is that about 20 years later Pugach and Riss married, and remain together to this day. Though at first it seems that directors Dan Klores and Fisher Stevens have coaxed amazingly candid conversations from the pair, clips we see of the couple on a number of tabloid television shows suggests they’ve been publicity hounds for quite some time. That, in turn, suggests Crazy Love offers little more than warmed-over sensationalism. Albeit set to a catchy beat.
