Crossroads (2002 Film)

''Crossroads'' is a 2002 American teen drama road film directed by Tamra Davis, from a screenplay by Shonda Rhimes. It stars Britney Spears, Anson Mount, Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning, Kim Cattrall and Dan Aykroyd. Set in Georgia, it centers on three teenage girls on a cross-country road trip, as they find themselves and their friendship in the process.

Development began in 2001 when Spears created a concept that was later expanded by Rhimes. Principal filming began in March 2001, and encompassed over six months. Produced by MTV Films and released on February 15, 2002, in North America by Paramount Pictures, ''Crossroads'' was a box office success, grossing $61 million worldwide on a $12 million budget. It received generally unfavorable reviews.

Plot

As children growing up in a small Georgia town, Lucy, Kit, and Mimi bury a "wish box" and vow to dig it up on the night of their high school graduation. However, as the trio grows up, their friendship fades: Lucy becomes the introverted valedictorian, Kit becomes the most popular girl in school, and Mimi becomes an outcast from the trailer park facing teenage pregnancy.

On the night of graduation, they reunite to dig up the "wish box", remembering their old wishes: Kit wanted to get married, Lucy wanted to find her mother who abandoned her, and Mimi wanted to travel to California. Lucy and Kit try to convince Mimi, who is five months pregnant, not to go to Los Angeles to audition for a record company. However, they decide to go with her to Los Angeles the next morning. Kit is going to see her fiancé who is a student at UCLA, and Lucy is going to find her mother in Tucson, Arizona.

Unbeknownst to her overbearing father Pete, Lucy, Kit, and Mimi depart in a yellow 1973 Buick Skylark convertible with Ben. During the trip, the car breaks down in Louisiana and, with little money, Mimi suggests that they sing karaoke at a New Orleans bar for tips. At the bar, 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.

While staying at a motel in Alabama, Kit tells Lucy and Mimi that she heard a rumor about Ben going to jail for killing a guy. Uneasy for most of the trip, the girls finally confront Ben about the rumor, who reveals that he actually went to jail for driving his stepsister across state lines without parental consent because his stepfather was abusing her. Lucy and Ben fall in love with each other, and the girls have their first honest conversation since they were children: Lucy reveals that her mother left her and her father when she was three years old, but believes that her mother wants to see her again; Kit, who was overweight as a child, reveals that her mother sent her to "fat camp" every summer until she reached her goal weight, but now hates that Kit is prettier than her; Mimi reveals that her baby's father is not her ex-boyfriend Kurt, but a man who raped her at a party, and that she is planning to put her baby up for adoption.

In Tucson, Lucy finds her mother Caroline, who has remarried with two young sons and is unhappy to see her. Caroline reveals that Lucy was an unintended pregnancy and that she wants nothing to do with her, leaving Lucy heartbroken. At the motel, Ben consoles Lucy and impresses her by writing music to a poem she has written during the trip. Lucy then rejoins Kit, Mimi, and Ben, and they reach Los Angeles.

One night, Kit takes Mimi with her to surprise her fiancé Dylan. Alone together in the motel, Lucy loses her virginity to Ben. Kit and Mimi arrive at Dylan's apartment to find him cheating on Kit with another woman. She then realizes that it was Dylan who raped Mimi, and punches him in the face. While running away, Mimi falls down the stairs and loses her baby. In the hospital, Lucy and Kit console her as she comes to terms with her loss, having decided to keep her baby once they reached Los Angeles.

Lucy calls her father to come take her, Kit, and Mimi 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 them and her father, but realizes that everything she has done has been to please her father instead of herself. Lucy tells her father to let her go, runs to Ben, and they kiss. She, Kit, and Mimi head to the audition with Ben and receive a standing ovation for their performance of her song, "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman".

The girls re-bury the "wish box" at a Los Angeles beach, 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 himesand 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 (MIDEM) in Cannes, France, on January 19, 2002, where Spears also premiered the film.

Filming for ''Crossroads'' initiated in March 2001 in New Orleans, Metairie, Baton Rouge, and Tangipahoa Parish, 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 County, California. ''Crossroads'' had a total budget of $12 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 revealed that before he took the role of Ben, he was on the set of the film ''City by the Sea'' with actor Robert De Niro. De Niro saw Mount with the ''Crossroads'' script and encouraged Mount to take the role, running a few of Spears' lines with him.

Reception

Box office

''Crossroads'' was released in the United States on February 15, 2002. On its opening day, ''Crossroads'' 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.

''Crossroads'' was later released on VHS and DVD on July 23, 2002. The film has yet to be released as a Blu-ray version or to be made available on video streaming services.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 15% approval rating based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 4.10/10, 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, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F.

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 ''The 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'' gave the film 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''". Jane Crowther of BBC
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