Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Page 188

Crossroads
Movie
Crossroads
Director
Tamra Davis
Producer
Ann Carli, David Gale
Cast
Britney, Anson Mount, Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning



By Ad-Lib

Rating: * *

“Female Bonding.” Once thought to be an oxymoron has now been put on celluloid for the benefit of those who still believe such a concept can``t exist in this dimension. Crossroads has unfortunately ruined it by having one of the worst works of Direction and Screen writing that has been seen yet. What about Britney you say? Britney can indeed be a good actress but her debut has been horribly wasted in Crossroads .

Three kids Lucy, Kit and Mimi bury their dreams in a box under a tree and make a vow that they will be friends for life. They decide to open the box at midnight after high school graduation and check if their dreams have come true. Years pass and the children are young women now who can``t stand the sight of each other. Lucy (Britney Spears ) has achieved academic excellence but is a social misfit, thanks to her Dad``s (Dan Aykroyd )“straight and narrow” attitude. Kit (Zoe Saldana ) is the most popular girl in college (inevitably a bimbo), waiting to see her boyfriend in LA and get married. Mimi (Taryn Manning ) is a self-described “Trailer Trash.” She is pregnant and doesn``t have a very bright outlook on life. Reluctantly, they rendezvous and open their box of dreams. Mimi says that she wants to fulfill her``s by going for an audition in LA, be famous and see the world. The others decide to tag along for their own reasons, like Lucy who wants to see her estranged mother. They find a travel companion in Ben (Anson Mount ) a mysterious hunk (Bearing a slight resemblance to Richard Marx) who they believe is a murderer. Their journey progresses with the women finding their friendships rekindling again and Lucy starts to get increasingly attracted to Ben. Lucy finds out that her mother never wanted her and decides to carry on with the bunch to LA. There, Kit finds out that her boyfriend was lying to her and he is the father of Mimi``s child. An accident occurs and Mimi loses her baby, Lucy``s father comes to take them home. Lucy decides to stay with Ben, gets the audition and becomes a star and everyone is happy .The End.

Now you see what we mean by an awful storyline. Director Tamra Davis has done an awful job as all the actors` actions are totally uncoordinated and amateur. Mimi``s accident was totally unnecessary and so is Lucy``s brief encounter with her Mom. Poor Britney! She looks fine on screen and does a decent job within the constraints. The other performances are shabby. Dan Aykroyd, as Lucy``s father, is not a shadow but a stain of his former self. Sad that such a great comedian should go down so horribly. But there is a chance that young women could like the movie. It would definitely prove irritating to the guys as summarised by Anson in the scene where the girls drive his car without asking. Crossroads is a movie totally for female sensibilities as they are only ones who will find meaning in it.

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