Themes: Women's Friendship, Expecting a Baby, Mothers and Daughters
Main Cast: Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana, Anson Mount, Taryn Manning, Justin Long
Release Year: 2002
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Multimillion-selling recording artist Britney Spears makes the transition to the big screen with this teen road trip romantic comedy, co-produced by the film branch of the entity that first brought her pop stardom, MTV. Crossroads casts Spears as Lucy, the shy valedictorian of her high school graduating class. On the night of their prom, Lucy and her once-close childhood friends -- the prim and proper Kit (Zoe Saldana) and the tomboyish, five-months-pregnant Mimi (Taryn Manning) -- reunite to dig up a time capsule they buried together as little girls. Mimi's about to make good on her childhood dreams; she's leaving their small Southern town for hopes of fame and fortune in Los Angeles. Though Lucy and Kit are reluctant to join her, they decide to tag along at the last minute, agreeing to be chauffeured by Mimi's just-out-of-jail friend, Ben (Anson Mount). As they trek across the country, plagued by car problems, unsanitary motels, and petty bickering, the three friends reveal meaningful secrets to each other, and Lucy begins to realize that the handsome, reticent Ben might just be the guy for her. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Justin Long - Henry; Dan Aykroyd - Lucy's Dad; Kim Cattrall - Lucy's Mom; Beverly Johnson - Kit's Mom; Bahni Turpin - Ms. Jenson; Kool Moe Dee - Bar Owner; Richard Voll - Dylan; David "Gruber" Allen - Bar Patron
Credit
Barry Kingston - Art Director, Justine Baddeley - Casting, Kim Davis-Wagner - Casting, Wendy Schecter - Casting, Jonathan McHugh - Co-producer, Robert Lee - Co-producer, Wendy Schecter - Costume Designer, Robert Lorenz - First Assistant Director, Tamra Davis - Director, Melissa Kent - Editor, Van Toffler - Executive Producer, Clive Calder - Executive Producer, Larry Rudolph - Executive Producer, Johnny Wright - Executive Producer, David Gale - Executive Producer, Trevor Jones - Composer (Music Score), Daniel Allan Carlin - Musical Direction/Supervision, Waldemar Kalinowski - Production Designer, Eric Edwards - Cinematographer, Ann Carli - Producer, Florence Fellman - Set Designer, Susumu Tokunow - Sound/Sound Designer, Shonda Rhimes - Screenwriter, Terry Wilson - Music Editor, Florence Fellman - Set Decorator
Three friends get together and bury a box making a pact to open it at midnight at their high school graduation. By the time the girls get to high school things change. One is little miss perfect, one is an engaged prom queen, and the other is a pregnant outcast. The night of graduation, they open the box and they strike up a conversation. All of a sudden, one brings up the topic of her going to Los Angeles for a record contract audition. They all decide to go together and they leave. With little money, they set out on the road in a yellow 1969 Buick Skylark convertible with a guy named Ben. When one of them tells the other a rumor that he might be a homicidal maniac they are all scared of him. When they reach Los Angeles, Lucy falls in love with Ben and against her father's wishes, she stays and she goes to the audition.
Release
In Germany and Japan, the film was realeased under the title Not a Girl.[1]
Release dates
The following release dates are from different parts of the world:[2][3][4]
"Crossroads" was released in 2,380 theaters on February 15, 2002 and grossed $5.2 million on its opening day, 80% more than her rival Mariah Carey's "Glitter" (2001).[5] The Box Office Mojo reported that "Crossroads" open at number 2 on the Box Office with an estimate of $14,527,187, just behind "John Q.'s" $20,275,194 opening weekend.[6] By the second week the film dropped a 52% on tickets sales ranking at number 5 on the box office, according to Yahoo! Movies the decrease was due to lack of promotion.[7] On its third week the film dropped a 49% of ticket sales, and ranked at number 9 on the box office charts with $4.1 million dollars. On its fourth week "Crossroads" failed to chart in the top ten, but it grossed $2.4 million with a 39% drop. Ultimately "Crossroads" grossed $37,191,304 in the United States, gaining only 60.8% of the revenue supplied by Paramount.[8] Internationally, the film grossed $23,949,726 for a total of $61,141,030 worldwide.[9]
Response
Crossroads received generally negative reviews in the United States, many panning the film and called it predictable, after school special, bland and stated it was not appropriate for Spears' young fans. On the Rotten Tomatoes review site, the film holds a 15% unfavorable rating. However, it holds a 13% rating when filtered to include only professional critics, which was slightly lower.[10] In the perspective of pop star debuts, Spears is number 13, and number 10 in MTV Brand movies. Roger Ebert from the "Chicago Sun-Times" wrote "I went to Crossroads expecting a glitzy bimbofest and got the bimbos but not the fest."[11] In the other hand there were some positive reviews. "The Hollywood Reporter" quoted on their review "Davis directs the low-budget production with economy and a lack of surface flashiness that is pleasingly unpretentious."[12]E! said that Spears' breezy acting style was more enjoyable to watch than fellow pop-star-turned-actress Mariah Carey.
Other honors
Inl 2005 VH1 released their list for 100 Greatest Teen Movies, Crossroads debuted at number three just behind Titanic and The Notebook.[13]Crossroads was also selected by its studio Paramount Pictures to be one of the 100 films to have a release as a "Collectors Edition."
