Crossroads (2002 film)


Crossroads is a 2002 American road comedy film set in Georgia. Directed by Tamra Davis and written by Shonda Rhimes, the film stars Britney Spears, Anson Mount, Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning, Kim Cattrall, and Dan Aykroyd. The film was produced by MTV Films and released on February 15, 2002, in North America by Paramount Pictures. The plot centers on three teenage girls as they take a cross-country road trip, finding themselves and their friendship in the process.
Development on the film began in 2001, when Spears created a concept that was later expanded by Rhimes. Principal filming began in March 2001, and encompassed over a period of six months. Crossroads received negative reviews from film critics; however, they considered it a better effort when compared to Mariah Carey's 2001 film Glitter. Despite the movie's negative response from critics, it was a box office success, grossing over $61.1 million worldwide in three months.

Plot

Lucy, Kit, and Mimi are friends in a small Georgia town. As children, they bury a "wish box", vowing to dig it up on their high school graduation and pledging to stay best friends. However, as the trio grow up, their friendship fades: Lucy becomes the introverted valedictorian, Kit becomes the most popular girl in school, and Mimi becomes an outcast from a trailer park, facing teenage pregnancy. On the night of graduation, they reunite to open the "wish box”, remembering their old wishes: Mimi wanted to travel to California, Lucy wanted to find her mother, and Kit wanted to get married. Kit and Lucy try to convince Mimi, who is 5 months pregnant, not to go to Los Angeles to audition for a record company. However, the next morning they decide to go to LA together, Mimi for the audition, Kit to visit her fiancé, and Lucy to find her mother in Tucson, Arizona.
After Lucy departs without notifying her overbearing father Pete, the trio set out in a yellow 1973 Buick Skylark convertible with Ben. During the trip, the car breaks down, and with little money, Mimi suggests they sing karaoke at a local bar for tips. The girls dress up and take the stage, but Mimi develops stage fright and is unable to sing. Lucy takes her place and is a hit, and the girls earn enough money to fix the car and continue on their way.
They check into a motel, and Kit tells her friends a rumor that Ben had been released from jail after killing someone. Uneasy for most of the journey, the girls finally confront Ben, who reveals that he was in jail for driving his stepsister across state borders without parental consent because his stepfather was abusing her. Lucy and Ben grow closer, especially after she reads him a poem she wrote. The girls have their first honest conversation since they were kids: Lucy reveals that her mother left her and her father when she was a child, but is convinced her mother wants to find her but is too scared; Kit, overweight as a child, has an overbearing mother who sent her to "fat camp" but now cannot stand that her daughter is more beautiful than her; Mimi reveals that her baby's father is not her ex-boyfriend, but a man who raped her at a party, and that she is planning to put the baby up for adoption.
In Tucson, Lucy finds her mother Caroline, who is unhappy to see her and has remarried with two young sons. Caroline reveals that Lucy was an unintended pregnancy and that she wants nothing to do with her, and Lucy leaves heartbroken. At the motel, Ben comforts Lucy and impresses her by writing music to her poem. Lucy rejoins the others and they reach Los Angeles, where Kit brings Mimi to surprise her fiancé, Dylan. Alone together in the hotel, Lucy has sex for her first time with Ben and they fall in love. Kit and Mimi arrive at Dylan's apartment to find he is cheating on Kit. She then realizes it was Dylan who raped Mimi, and punches him. Running away, Mimi falls down the stairs and loses her baby. Her friends comfort her as she comes to terms with her loss, having decided to keep the baby.
Lucy calls her father to take them back home, and Kit and Mimi tell her that she should go to the audition in Mimi's place. Lucy declines and prepares to leave with her father, but realizes that everything that she has done has been to please her father instead of herself. Lucy tells her father to let her go and runs after Ben, and they kiss. She and the girls head to the audition with Ben and receive a standing ovation after their performance of Lucy's song, "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman".
The girls bury their “wish box” at the beach, this time deciding not to make any wishes for the future but to focus on the present and their friendship.

Cast

Production

In early 2001, Spears said that she had plans to make her film debut. She and her team then created a concept for it, which was later developed by Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. Spears commented that she "talked to and told her what I wanted the movie to be about and she elaborated on it. It was my little project. When you do a movie, I think you have to be really passionate about it. I was having a lot of offers, but this is something my heart was into." A press conference was held during the Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale in Cannes, France, on January 19, 2002, where Spears also premiered the film.
Filming for Crossroads initiated in March 2001 in Baton Rouge and Hammond, Louisiana, near Spears' hometown. Due to the fact that Spears was also recording her third studio album along with the film's production, filming only wrapped up after six months. Additional scenes were filmed in Los Angeles, California. Crossroads had a total budget of $10 million; a relatively low budget by industry standards. According to the Louisiana Film and Video Commission, the film was originally titled What Friends are For. Spears described it as a teen movie that deals with real issues that normal teenagers live on a daily basis. She continued to explain the film's content, saying that it "is about this journey that the three of us best friends take, finding ourselves and what we want out of life and getting our friendship back. Friends are all you have at the end of the day. When your boyfriend breaks up with you, who do you call? Your girlfriend. I just love that message."
Justin Long, who plays one of Lucy's best friends from high school, thought that Crossroads is "like a road trip buddy movie for girls." Long also said that he was impressed by Spears' work ethic, commenting that "she could not have been more down to earth. She's the sweetest girl. After 10 minutes, I forgot she was a big pop star." Anson Mount, who plays Ben, revealed that actor Robert De Niro ran a few of Spears' lines with him while rehearsing for the film. Mount revealed that De Niro called the singer "a sweet girl" and convinced him to do Crossroads.

Release and reception

Box office

Crossroads was released in the United States on February 15, 2002. On its opening day, the film grossed an estimated $5.2 million in 2,380 theaters, becoming the second highest-grossing film of the day. On the first weekend of its release, Crossroads placed second, grossing an estimate of $14,527,187. By the second week, the film dropped a 52% on tickets sales, ranking at number 5 on the Box Office. Crossroads was a moderate financial success, grossing a total $37,191,304 in the United States. Worldwide, the film grossed a total of $61,141,030 until its close day, on May 9, 2002.

Critical response

Crossroads received mostly negative reviews. The film has a 14% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 104 reviews with an average rating of 3.95/10, with the consensus: "A cliched and silly pop star vanity project, Crossroads is strictly for Britney fans only." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score, gave the film a 27 out of 100 based on 31 reviews from critics.
Robert K. Elder of the Chicago Tribune said "Spears delivers a performance with the same sincerity she invests into a Pepsi commercial, only this film contains twice the sugary calories", while New York Daily News writer Elizabeth Weitzma noted, "Here's what Crossroads does not have: Cohesive direction from Tamra Davis, intelligent dialogue, a comprehensible plot". Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide commented that "the film's mealy-mouthed messages about feminine empowerment will almost certainly fall on deaf ears, since even 11-year-olds know Spears's power resides largely in her taut torso". Claudia Puig of USA Today considered it "less a movie than a mind-numbingly dull road trip", while The Washington Post reporter Ann Hornaday said, "not a music video, not yet a movie, but more like an extended-play advertisement for the Product that is Britney". Jane Dark of Village Voice compared Crossroads to Mariah Carey's Glitter, saying, "you spend a lot of time wondering, 'Better or worse than Glitter?' You think if the projectionist cranked the volume a little you could actually sort of get into this".
John Anderson of Los Angeles Times commented "Spears acquits herself as well as anyone might, in a movie as contrived and lazy as this one". Chris Kaltenbach of Baltimore Sun said, "go see Crossroads if you want to hear Britney sing or see her wear next-to-nothing. But otherwise, avoid this train wreck at all costs". Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly, however, gave the movie a positive review, commenting Crossroads "not only makes excellent use of the singer's sweetly coltish acting abilities, but it also promotes a standardized set of sturdy values with none of Mariah Carey's desperate Glitter, or any of Mandy Moore's gummy pap in A Walk to Remember". Bret Fetzer of Amazon.com also gave a positive review, noting that the movie "could have been trite schmaltz, but the script has some grit and the direction is fresh and relaxed—and, most significantly, Spears is far more sympathetic and engaging than you might expect". Jane Crowther of BBC applauded Cattrall and Aykroyd's interactions with the characters, and said that "Spears manages to come across on film as natural, endearing, and extremely likable". Time named it one of the top 10 worst chick flicks.

Accolades

Soundtrack

Background

Spears had initially recorded "Overprotected", "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman", "Bombastic Love" and a cover of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" for Crossroads; the songs were later included on the singer's third studio album, Britney. The soundtrack album features tracks by Spears, Mystikal, Matthew Sweet, Jars of Clay and Bowling for Soup. Crossroads was released by Zomba Records on February 2, 2002, and was produced by Rodney Jerkins, The Neptunes, Fred Maher, Matthew Sweet, Dennis Herring, Jaret Reddick, Max Martin, and Rami Yacoub. "Overprotected" was remixed by JS16 for the soundtrack album.

Track listing

Credits and personnel