This flick was publicized as a cheesy chick-flick - exactly the type of thing I love - but Crossroads is not. In fact, its not a movie at all! Its a 96 minute commercial for all that is Britney.
I had a lot of hope going into this movie... not because I think Britney Spears is an phenom actress - or because I'm her "biggest fan" - but because I am a big "chick flick" lover and a "fromage" (cheese) addict. Crossroads was publicized as exactly that type of flick - but it's not. It's a 96 minute commercial for all that is Britney.
Right from the beginning, the movie is filled with everything and anything that Britney Spears is associated with, a spokesmodel for, endorses or... related to. Her real-life lil' sis, Jamie Lynn Spears, plays Brit's character, Lucy, in the opening sequence. Okay, not so bad... but then we have all the characters singing to Bye Bye Bye with Lucy belting out Justin Timberlake's part (how quaint). Then everybody is wearing Sketchers (Brit does ads for 'em.) Now, I haven't been on a road trip for a while, but I find it amazing that every hotel bathroom from Georgia to LA is stocked full of Herbal Essence Shampoo. Doesn't a certain pop singer do ads for those guys? My personal fave - the girls complain when the car breaks down and they find themselves in Louisianna (someplace they've never been before) but Lucy is constantly wearing a Lousianna University T. Brit is from Lousianna, but the character Lucy is never supposed to have been there before?!
If you weren't too busy noticing all the crazy Britness of the flick, you might be able to enjoy the storyline. In the beginning, it's pretty good. The road trip moments are genuine and funny - and the characters like Mimi and Ben are completely likable and believable. But then, this fun, cute and almost-lovable chick flick flips into an epi of The Young and The Restless or something. All this really harsh, serious stuff sucks any of the funny right out of the theater... and not in a good, enjoyable sorta way.
Well, it's not a total waste - Ben is total eye candy - definitely worth the price of admission. (Although newbie, hottie Anson Mount looks like he is barely surviving his role.) And Taryn Manning is a supremo actress, who makes her character the best one by far. But on the big Q - can Britney act? I don't know, I'll have to wait and see if she actually makes a movie and not a giant product-placement tribute to all that is Miss. Spears.
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