The Crossing Guard

source: The Crossing Guard

Trailer—The Crossing Guard

The Crossing Guard

Pathetic, disjointed and slow. Written and directed by Sean Penn, this film's focus is on Freddy Gale(Jack Nicholson), who's daughter was killed by a drunk driver. Gale mistakenly thinks the best thing for the family is abandon them and vow to murder the guy who did it. Gale is a shady jeweler that has turned himself into a *-mongering drunk. And growing is his obsession with John Booth(David Morse), the driver that killed his little girl. Booth finishes doing time for the crime and moves into the basement of his parent's home. Freddy Gale is in countdown mode to commit murder...murder Booth. My favorite scene is Gale and Booth playing cat and mouse on a city bus...Booth running for his life and Gale with gun in hand. Also in the cast are: Anjelica Huston, Piper Laurie, Robbie Robertson and Robin Wright Penn.

Spoilers herein. Two men, one running from death, the other advancing toward it. The meet and exchange roles. Two powerful, explosive actors (Nicholson and Huston) and two controlled, technical actors (Morse and Wright Penn). Two off-screen relationships both stressed and introspective: one goes forward (Sean and Robin), one does not (Jack and Angelica). Two dancers: one has a child at home; one is a child -- both seek fathers. Sex and love; awakening and alcoholism -- but these are old. Jewelry put on and clothes taken off. Literal and virtual prisons. Buses and boats. Robin and Verna as dancers. Slow motion in vision and slow awakenings. In the Egoyan tradition of character-driven symmetries. This is worth watching if only because Penn understands how to place talented actors in motion in folded spaces. All else is irrelevant in this case.

I won't elaborate on the positive comments here, for they are right on the mark. This is a poetic adventure into the dark side of human events gone wrong, and the affect tragedy can have on a family. As to the negative reviewers I can only say you have little patience. This is such a sad movie, so be prepared to cry. The acting is magnificent! My only criticism is with the editing. It could be shorter, and I would like to see several scenes left out and some more left in. At least for me it was mesmerizing. 9/10

When "The Crossing Guard" came out, it seemed like we'd heard for years that Sean Penn was worthless and just got in a bunch of fights. We turned out to be wrong. He's as great a director as an actor. The movie casts Jack Nicholson as Freddy Gale, out to get drunk driver John Booth (David Morse), who accidentally killed his daughter. Over the course of the movie, we see how Freddy's life is damaged not only by his daughter's death, but how he has never talked to anyone about this. Moreover, Freddy has never gone to his daughter's grave, but John has. Everything comes to a head at the end. Maybe I wouldn't call this the ultimate masterpiece, but it is worth seeing. Also starring Anjelica Huston, Robin Wright Penn and Piper Laurie.

Sean Penn wrote, co-produced and directed this strong drama about a conflicted Los Angeles businessman intent on nailing the drunk driver who killed his daughter. In the lead, Jack Nicholson is appropriately somber, displaying no over-the-top theatrics as he visits the parolee just sprung from jail, giving him three days of freedom before his death. Sub-plots detract from the main narrative, with Robin Wright a colorless love-interest for convict David Morse and Anjelica Huston lost in a confusingly-written role as Nicholson's ex-wife. Frequent trips to the local strip club muddy the focus of the piece, however the emotional showdown between the two men is wisely examined, heartfelt and exceptionally well-acted. **1/2 from ****

Wonderfully talented actors, and a director I imagine talented as well. But both the actor's indulgence and the director indulging them is stultifying. Seemingly left to their own devices they create scenes with few sparks and much tedium. Nicholson, Morse, Huston and the other have ability to burn, yet they fizzle with false restraint.The actors are obviously improvising in many scenes yet their behavior often seems contrived and illogical. The director, attempts to create a reality of life with ancillary actors surrounding the leading characters,yet those scenes within scenes seem forced and intrusive. One should care about the three major characters caught up in a truly tragic event, yet it's generally "ho-hum" because they are caught "acting" in most every scene. With such great talents, this film was truly disappointing.

This film should have been good. It has a potentially great plot, and the first few scenes are very good. Then, it simply falls apart, and the main plot is basically ignored for much of the remainder of the movie. I also found the ending to be somewhat disappointing, although it was nice to see the focus back on the central storyline. The acting was certainly good, as you would expect in a Jack Nicholson movie, but the real tragedy is that David Morse was absolutely wasted. He was outstanding, but he rarely had anything to work with. What a disappointment.