Crossroads (2002 film)
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| Crossroads | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Crossroads |
|
| Directed by | Tamra Davis |
| Produced by | Ann Carli |
| Written by | Shonda Rhimes |
| Starring | Britney Spears Anson Mount Zoë Saldaña Taryn Manning Dan Aykroyd Kim Cattrall Justin Long |
| Cinematography | Eric Alan Edwards |
| Editing by | Melissa Kent |
| Distributed by | Paramount |
| Release date(s) | February 15, 2002 |
| Running time | 93 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$12 million |
| IMDb profile | |
Crossroads is a 2002 movie directed by Tamra Davis. It stars pop superstar Britney Spears in her first major movie role. In the film, Spears plays teenage Lucy, the lead character. It is rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief teen drinking.
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[edit] Plot
The movie begins with a flashback of three young girls from Georgia, Lucy (Britney Spears), Mimi (Taryn Manning) and Kit (Zoë Saldaña), burying a "wish box" in the ground. They vow to dig it up on the night of their high school graduation, and pledge to stay best friends forever.
In the present day, Lucy is a valedictorian at her school; it is the day of graduation. She, Mimi and Kit are no longer friends. Mimi is viewed by many as "trailer trash", largely because she is pregnant. Kit is the popular homecoming queen who is engaged to be married to Dylan (Richard Voll), a college student in L.A.. Lucy is a smart girl with perfect grades. She is disappointed that she didn't get to experience high school like everyone else because she was always studying. Her father assures her that she is better because of it. She wants to pursue music in college, but her father wants her to become a doctor. Lucy's mom left when Lucy was three and now lives in Arizona.
That night all of the seniors are at a big party. Mimi tries to persuade Kit and Lucy to come and dig up the box, but they refuse as they already have plans. Lucy and her lab partner Henry (Justin Long) have agreed to sleep with each other in order to avoid being friendless since they are virgins, and Kit just wants to party.
Later, Mimi goes to dig up the box and is surprised to see both Lucy and Kit there. Lucy decided not to sleep with her lab partner because she wants her first time to be special. They realize that their dreams haven't come true. Mimi says that she is going to fulfill her dream to see the world by leaving for L.A. to enter a singing contest. She invites the others to come if they want to. Lucy's dream was to see her Mom and goes along to be dropped off in Arizona to meet her. Kit's wish was to be happily married so she agrees to go so she can visit her fiancé in L.A. Ben (Anson Mount), a cute guitarist, has agreed to drive them.
The girls are quite uncomfortable around each other so the trip begins very dull and filled with tension. They stop at a shabby motel to stay the first night where they realize that they only have $400 dollars and will have to spend wisely.
As they are driving the next day, their car breaks down. Lucy recognizes the problem immediately, because her father is a mechanic. However, the group doesn't have enough money to repair it. They decide to have Mimi perform Karaoke to win some money, but she chickens out and Lucy is forced to step in. The girls are great and they earn enough money to repair their car and to last them the rest of the trip. They stay in a really nice hotel and spend all night talking and sharing experiences: Lucy is really scared about meeting her mother; Mimi isn't really a party girl like everyone thought. In fact, the only time she has partied was at Christmas when she got really drunk. She took a ride home from a guy, who drank from a blue bottle and raped her. She is going to raise the baby by herself.
The group continues on the next morning. Lucy and Ben are becoming very close, and she even shares her poetry with him. She reads him a poem called "I'm not a girl, not yet a woman" and he later puts it to music for her.
When they finally arrive in Arizona, Lucy leaves the group and goes to meet her mother. However, when Lucy finally meets her she realizes that Caroline (Kim Catrall) is very cruel and patronizing. She has remarried and has two sons, Lucy's half-brothers, who didn't even know about her. Lucy realizes that her father was right about her mother and feels unwanted, so goes to the hotel that the group is staying at and tearfully tells them the story: her mom told her that Lucy was an accident and that her father forced her mom to have her. Ben listens to her and they become closer.
At last they arrive in L.A. One day, before the contest, Mimi and Kit go out sightseeing. Kit wants to go and visit her fiancé, Dylan. When they arrive, they discover another woman in his room. Kit then notices the blue beer bottle in Dylan's hand and realizes that he was the man who raped Mimi. Mimi starts to run away, ashamed, and trips down some stairs. She is rushed to the hospital.
At the same time Lucy and Ben are having sex back in the hotel room. They receive a phone call and rush to the hospital, where they hear from Mimi that she lost the baby and is heartbroken. While at the hospital, Lucy calls her father and he immediately flies to L.A. He starts to take all of the girls to the airport when Lucy tells him that she is staying and runs to Ben, and they kiss.
At the contest, Lucy sings her song "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman". Then the movie jumps forward to the beach where the girls are burying a new wish box, to forget about their past. They pledge to be there for each other always.
[edit] Cast
Selected cast listing
- Britney Spears - Lucy Wagner
- Anson Mount - Ben
- Zoë Saldaña - Kit
- Taryn Manning - Mimi
- Dan Aykroyd - Pete Wagner
- Kim Cattrall - Caroline
- Justin Long - Henry
- Beverly Johnson - Kit's Mother
- Bahni Turpin - Ms. Jenson
- Kool Moe Dee - Bar Owner
- Richard Voll - Dylan
- Dajine Colon - Young Kit
- Jamie Lynn Spears- Young Lucy
- Crystal Milton - Young Mimi
[edit] Filming locations
According to a DVD feature, Crossroads was shot in exactly 40 days in Los Angeles, California; Malibu, California; Santa Clarita, California; Studio City, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Kenner, Louisiana; and Metairie, Louisiana.
[edit] Soundtrack
The film featured three Britney's songs from her self-titled album: "Overprotected", "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" and "I Love Rock 'N' Roll". An original CD soundtrack was released with six songs taken from the movie.
[edit] DVD Featurettes
- Britney's DVD Welcome
- Break Through Britney Fun Facts And Inside
- Comments From Britney Accessed During The Movie
- Overprotected Music Video
- I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman Music Video
- Commentary With Producer Ann Carli, Director Tamra Davis And Writer Shonda Rhimes
- The Making Of Crossroads 3 Days With Britney
- First In Line Inside The Crossroads Premiere
- 7 Deleted Scenes
- Sing Along With Britney Karaoke Videos
- Edit Your Own Music Video
- Taryns T Shirts
- Crossroads Photo Gallery
- 4 TV Spots
- US Theatrical Trailer
- International Theatrical Teaser Trailer
[edit] Response/Box office
The movie was produced on a budget of US$12 million, and earned more than $37 million in the United States. The movie earned $24 million in foreign sales; a total worldwide sale of $61,141,030. In the perspective of pop star debuts, Britney Spears is number 13, and number 10 in MTV Brand movies. The movie received mixed, mostly negative reviews, many panning the film and called it predictable, after school special, bland and stated it wasn't appropriate for Britney's young fans. There were some positive responses to Spears' acting; sources such as E! said that Spears' breezy acting style was more enjoyable to watch than fellow pop-star-turned-actress Mariah Carey. [1] It also received two MTV Movie Award nominations. Ebert and Roeper on their show said that the film was melodramatic, Britney couldn't act, and that Anson Mount was too old and looked too old to play the hunky Ben. They did say he was handsome enough. They also believed that the film's PG-13 rating was too liberal because of its mature content. Leonard Maltin give it 2 1/2 out of 4 stars and said it was an innocuous, predictable teen fare with a few serious moments. He did however, praise Britney for not wasting her time showing her underwear.
Domestic Gross: $37,191,304
+ Foreign: $23,949,726
= Worldwide: $61,141,030
Rental Gross: Rentals (VHS & DVD) Total: $6,020,000
[edit] Awards and nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Dressed | nominated |
| 2002 | MTV Movie Awards | Breakthrough Female Performance | nominated |
| 2002 | Teen Choice Awards (Film) | Choice Actress, Drama/Action | nominated |
| 2002 | Teen Choice Awards (Film) | Choice Chemistry (Britney Spears and Anson Mount) | nominated |
