Column: 'No One Cares About Crazy People' documentary shines a spotlight on our mental health system

Ron Powers and his wife, Honoree Fleming, with their boys Kevin (left) and Dean in the 1980s. (Provided by Ron Powers)


Rick Kogan | rkogan@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: April 7, 2026 at 5:00 AM CDT

While some movies are meant to entertain, and there is nothing wrong about that, a few movies try to change the world, and there is something wonderful about that.

“No One Cares About Crazy People” is among the latter, admittedly smaller, group. It will be shown at 2:45 p.m. Saturday at Columbia College’s Film Row Cinema (1104 S. Wabash Ave.) as part of an ongoing national tour. After the film, there will be a panel discussion that will include director Gail Freedman.

She will surely talk about the film’s strong Chicago connections. Its soundtrack is composed and performed by Jeff Tweedy, the lead vocalist and guitarist of Wilco, who lives on the North Side. The narrating voice you’ll hear is that of Bob Odenkirk, the suburban native and busy star of such shows as “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” and on and on.

The focus of the film is this country’s shameful and destructive mental health system. There is a chilling intimacy to this film, for it brings us up close to some of the people (and families) suffering. We meet Mark Rippee, a blind man who has been dealing with schizophrenia for more than 15 years. He is somehow managing to live homeless in a California town, even as his sisters attempt to help him by fighting the system and caring for him as they can.
More:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/04/07/no-one-cares-about-crazy-people-documentary/