Search - The Crossing Guard on DVD

ACTOR'S MOVIE

Michael Butts | Martinsburg, WV USA | 09/26/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sean Penn, recently winning his first Oscar for MYSTIC RIVER, directed this film, and as an actor he is vastly aware of the importance of good performances. While the movie itself is a flawed film, one can hardly fault the performances. The movie is about going on with one's life, even when that seems the furthest thing in mind. Jack Nicholson in a very strong performance plays Freddy, a man who lost his seven year old daughter to a drunk driver. After this loss, his marriage to Mary (Anjelica Huston) has fallen apart, and she has remarried a stable and nice enough man (played with restraint by Robbie Robertson). Freddy has been living for one thing: revenge. Now that the driver, John Booth (David Morse) has been released from prison, Freddy wants to kill him. Booth, however, is a changed, desolate man as well, bearing the guilt of ruining not only Nicholson's life, but hurting his loving parents (Piper Laurie and Richard Bradford) as well. How these two face their demons is the crux of the plot. What makes it so good are the performances. Huston is magnificent; a scene between her and Nicholson in a restaurant late at night is devastating in how it switches from what starts out as sentimental and caring, but then turns despicably ugly. Although not on screen much, Ms. Huston asserts her power as an actress. Robin Wright Penn as the girlfriend of Booth has some powerful moments, although her "dancing" sequence is both absurd and unmeaningful. David Morse is brilliant as John Booth, an obviously gentle man who made that horrible mistake of drinking too much and driving. His guilt weighs heavy on his shoulders, and in the convoluted ending, he and Nicholson still make it potent.
Not a happy film by any means, but a good exercise in cinematic performance."

Deeper than It looks!

Mark Ellis Iddon | england | 12/28/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I watched The crossing guard last night again for the 2nd time. It was 4:00am in the morning, and I had my ear phones plugged into the TV. What really hit home is the complexity that exists within this beautifully orchastrated film. The journeys each character takes, as people, dealing with their own inner feelings works in a way that I feel a lot of films don't do any more. I can't really critisise any acting in the film, although I do question Jacks ability to cry on celluloid! The end scene is a bit drawn out, and yet has a kind of zen about it. The soundtrack complements the film perfectly. And watch out for the opening sequence as Jack walks accross New York, I think the music complements him down to a Tee! Watch this film in a quiet room. But If you are feeling depressed, or somebody in the family just died, maybe watch Bambi... actually don't do that either! Watch Independence day, that always makes me laugh!"