''CrissCross'' is a 1992 American drama film directed by Chris Menges and written by

Scott Sommer Scott Sommer (February 20, 1951 – November 18, 1993) was an American author. He graduated from Columbia High School (1969) and Ohio Wesleyan University (1973). Sommer was the author of four novels and one collection of short stories. He was th ...

, based on his homonymous novel. It stars Goldie Hawn, Arliss Howard,

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

, and David Arnott.

Plot

Divorced mom Tracy Cross (Hawn) raises her 12-year-old son, Christopher (Arnott), in

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

in 1969 around the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Chris narrates the film in voiceover and talks about his "screwed up" life living with his mother in a cheap hotel. Chris' father (Carradine) was an

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

trained fighter pilot who had served in Vietnam. However, he became seriously disturbed after bombing a civilian hospital and burned his uniform as a "killers costume". Falling into alcoholism, he deserts Chris and Tracy moving into a commune separating himself from society. Chris hasn't seen his father in three years and still loves him deeply. Chris delivers papers and fish to help support his mother who works as a bartender and waitress. He unwittingly discovers that there are drugs hidden in the fish he is delivering and becomes a small time drug dealer out of desperation when he finds his mother, Tracy, has resorted to working as a

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. M ...

to support them. She is ashamed when he confronts her with this, but she tells him that sometimes in life one has to do what is not good to get what is. Chris visits his father in the commune and attempts to get him to reconcile with Tracy but to no avail. A stranger, Joe (Howard), comes to town and strikes up a relationship with Tracy. This further disturbs her son. Joe turns out to be a law-enforcement undercover agent, working to bring down the drug ring. His relationship with Tracy and her son complicates matters as the time comes to make the arrest. Chris narrowly escapes being killed when he delivers the drugs and it degenerates into a shootout. In the end, he spends the night in jail and is put on probation learning a valuable lesson. He and Tracy move into a mobile home park and she retires from stripping. The Apollo moon landing is mentioned throughout the film as a sort of metaphor and Chris mentions in the end how happy the astronauts must have been to have returned to the earth no matter how screwed up it is.

Cast

* David Arnott as Chris Cross * Goldie Hawn as Tracy Cross * Arliss Howard as Joe *

as John Cross * James Gammon as Emmitt *

as Louis

Location

Some scenes were shot in the Miami/Key West surrounding areas. The Spanish monastery in the film is in

North Miami North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami campu ...

and was brought to Miami from Spain in thousands of numbered individual stone blocks and re-built stone by stone.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crisscross 1992 films 1992 drama films Films about drugs Films directed by Chris Menges Films shot in Florida Films set in 1969 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films scored by Trevor Jones Films about mother–son relationships 1990s English-language films