Kiefer Sutherland stars as eccentric teenaged Brooks in this quirky Canadian romance, circa 1987. The youngest of two brothers in a wealthy but unhappy family, Brooks is a loner with a penchant for bowties and big band music who drives around town on a motorcycle with a mannequin in the sidecar. Older brother Cleveland is his polar opposite. Cleve also has a fondness for cocaine, which he keeps in Brooks’s bedroom. The two boys compete for their aloof Father’s attention, but are bound by a profound sense of loss over their Mother’s unexplained disappearance.

When Brooks finally meets face to face with Anne, the girl he’s been admiring from afar, he realizes that she is deaf and lives in a non-hearing community. They begin to fall in love despite living in separate worlds. We can’t help being drawn in as they transform each other, blatantly ignoring polite society’s disapproval.

The Dominoes tumble when Dad discovers the drugs in Brooks’s room, tipped off by an angry Cleveland. Brooks has already been sent for psychiatric evaluation because of his oddball behavior but the drugs spark the impending threat of institutionalization, and a promise that “things will change around here” for Brooks, regarding his refusal to keep up appearances.

Although many of the “quirky romance” films made in the 80s (Mannequin, Splash!, Electric Dreams) suffered from ridiculous scenarios and over-the-top characters, this one is careful not to overstep the boundaries on too many levels. The characters and conflicts are just far enough off kilter to suspend our disbelief and allow us to sympathize. Like Bud Cort’s Harold (Harold & Maude), Jake Gyllenhaal’s Donnie Darko, and the lesser known Ryan Gosling in Lars and the Real Girl, any of us who have ever felt ostracized can identify with Kiefer’s misunderstood Brooks. We don’t want him to be forced to fit in because his existence somehow makes the world a better place.

Adding to the charm of this film is the almost exclusively 30s soundtrack. Except for a few scenes with a stereotypically awful 80’s band, all of the music was recorded before 1945. While a modern soundtrack would have anchored this film the 80s, the big bands and crooners make it timelessly enchanting. Crazy Moon is a rare gem that holds up to repeated viewing.