Customer Reviews

The Crossing Guard

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

It's too long, too unfocused and way too self-indulgent. But in the end, none of this matters. Sean Penn's second effort as a director-screenwriter is compelling and emotionally resonant ways that more conventionally well-made films never manage to be. Jack Nicholson gives one of his finest performances as Freddy Gale, a jewelry store owner whose daughter was killed by a drunken driver six years before the story begins. Since then, the devastated Freddy has remained alive only by nursing the hope that he will be able to kill John Booth (David Morse), the man who accidentally killed his daughter. But as the guilt-racked Booth is released from prison, it becomes very clear that perhaps neither man really wants to live much longer. Throughout "Crossing Guard," Penn has a tendency to sledgehammer his way through walls rather than simply opening doors. Even so, he always gets where he wants to go -- to that dark corner of our hearts where we can forgive no one, not even ourselves. Co-star Anjelica Huston has a couple of terrific scenes as Freddy's ex-wife, a woman with her own share of guilt, fear and loathing.

I puzzle at those reviewers criticizing this film, which to my mind is a tour de force. Of course, I do volunteer work with dying folks and help train aspiring grief counselors to deal with the traumas that life all too often brings us. I can only assume that those who so quickly dismiss this powerful meditation on grief and remorse have yet to experience these real life emotions. Something by Schwarzenegger may be more to their taste, or one of the ubiquitous comic book recreations we encounter most summers with cardboard characters and pseudo emotions.

Sean Penn is plumbing much deeper regions of the human psyche, and doing so with actors of rare talent, fully capable of sharing with us their heart rending vulnerabilities. Few actors have the courage to go to the places these actors visit as they face suffering almost too great to bear. I'm reminded of the more recent Mystic River that explores equally traumatizing events. It was heartening to watch the joy with which Sean Penn's Academy award for his performance in that Clint Eastwood film was greeted by his fellow professionals who have long acknowledged this young man's genius both in front of and behind the camera. The Crossing Guard deserves a wider audience and will surely reward the discerning viewer with a deeply felt movie experience. Check it out for yourself!

... It is NOT a revenge movie. It's a movie about self pity and realization. Also, it's about people's narrow-mindedness in not realizing the suffering of others. This is a fantastic movie for those of you that can appreciate a deep intricate movie full of emotion. It's not fast paced but delves deep into the characters and human nature. The ending was fantastic and extremely sad. Give this movie a try if you're into movies that require more of an intellect and feeling for human nature.

This film shows what a great script and amazing actors can pull off. Penn does an amazing job pulling everything together to project a general feeling of despair. Few films send such a powerful emotion.

David Morse, who I believe makes every movie his is in (Green Mile, Contact, Hearts in Atlantis) much better, puts in an amazing performance as someone whose guilt is unshakable.

Jack of course is a living legend, but this is a performance that really transcends the typical greatness we have come to expect. He really makes you feel a piece of the powerful grief he lives with, and somehow makes you laugh.

Angelica Houston is just about the only actress I have seen steal a scene from someone like Nicholson with such subtlety. One of my favorite scenes is Nicholson and Houston in the dinner. At the conclusion, you can almost feel the door slam on their relationship.

And Robin Wright Penn gives the best performance of her career. Obviously the man and wife relationship helped Penn know how to best play her strengths. The scene when Morse confesses his worst secrets to Wright is amazing. She has few lines, but really shows volumes in her reaction.

I recently watched The Woodsman and felt that Sedgwick also did an amazing job in the same type of scene, but yet went in a completely different direction.

This film is often compared to The Pledge, and rightfully so. In my opinion though, The Crossing Guard is by far a better film. The fact that Penn had to wait until Mystic River to get his Oscar credit is a shame. This movie was overlooked.

This is a rare movie. Every situation between all of the characters is handled with great honesty and sensitivity. Anjelcia Houston is great as the mother of the family torn apart by her daughter's death. Nicholson turns in a powerful performance as the father who wants his life back. David Morse steals the show as the repennant killer. Finally, it is Penn's sharp clear direction that put it over the top.

Sean Penn, recently winning his first Oscar for MYSTIC RIVER, directed this film, and as an actor he is vastly aware of the importance of good performances. While the movie itself is a flawed film, one can hardly fault the performances. The movie is about going on with one's life, even when that seems the furthest thing in mind. Jack Nicholson in a very strong performance plays Freddy, a man who lost his seven year old daughter to a drunk driver. After this loss, his marriage to Mary (Anjelica Huston) has fallen apart, and she has remarried a stable and nice enough man (played with restraint by Robbie Robertson). Freddy has been living for one thing: revenge. Now that the driver, John Booth (David Morse) has been released from prison, Freddy wants to kill him. Booth, however, is a changed, desolate man as well, bearing the guilt of ruining not only Nicholson's life, but hurting his loving parents (Piper Laurie and Richard Bradford) as well. How these two face their demons is the crux of the plot. What makes it so good are the performances. Huston is magnificent; a scene between her and Nicholson in a restaurant late at night is devastating in how it switches from what starts out as sentimental and caring, but then turns despicably ugly. Although not on screen much, Ms. Huston asserts her power as an actress. Robin Wright Penn as the girlfriend of Booth has some powerful moments, although her "dancing" sequence is both absurd and unmeaningful. David Morse is brilliant as John Booth, an obviously gentle man who made that horrible mistake of drinking too much and driving. His guilt weighs heavy on his shoulders, and in the convoluted ending, he and Nicholson still make it potent.
Not a happy film by any means, but a good exercise in cinematic performance.

I watched The crossing guard last night again for the 2nd time. It was 4:00am in the morning, and I had my ear phones plugged into the TV. What really hit home is the complexity that exists within this beautifully orchastrated film. The journeys each character takes, as people, dealing with their own inner feelings works in a way that I feel a lot of films don't do any more. I can't really critisise any acting in the film, although I do question Jacks ability to cry on celluloid! The end scene is a bit drawn out, and yet has a kind of zen about it. The soundtrack complements the film perfectly. And watch out for the opening sequence as Jack walks accross New York, I think the music complements him down to a Tee! Watch this film in a quiet room. But If you are feeling depressed, or somebody in the family just died, maybe watch Bambi... actually don't do that either! Watch Independence day, that always makes me laugh!

To say that director Sean Penn is John Cassavetes reincarnated really does Penn a disservice. Although Cassavetes was a respected and groundbreaking director, his films were often inaccessible for the average viewer.

"The Crossing Guard" is still somewhat inaccessible but Penn is drawing on Cassavetes strengths and getting as close to accessibility as one might with a true drama. Let's call Penn a student of Cassavetes.

The parallels with this film and Cassavetes "Killing of a Chinese Bookie" in style, content, pacing, etc. are too great to be mere coincidence. That Penn produced "She's So Lovely" (written by Cassevetes before his death) demonstrates that these parallels are no coincidence.

Both directors are "auteurs" in the truest sense. The great strengths they share are:

1) Excellent acting skills in addition to writing and directing skills.

2) The ability to write uncontrived DRAMA. (Harder than it sounds and even harder to get produced.) Cinema has become many things, blockbusters, special effects, mindless comedy, etc. but it SHOULD BE drama first and foremost and here, it is.

3) The ability to direct actors to preserve what they have written.

4) The ability to somehow get impossible scripts produced.

Flaws in the final result are more apparent than they would be in a convention production but the viewer overlooks them because she is absorbed by the DRAMA.

This is a great film.

Jack Nicholson gives his best performance since "One Flew Over the Cuckoos's Nest" as a depressed, revenge driven father and Daid Morse holds his own as guilt ridden man who accidetally killed Nicholson's daughter 6 years ago. This film, expertley directed by Sean Penn, is an excellant example of 2 of the greatest actors of our time at their best!

Penn is amazing what what he put to script here
Nicholson or Jack Nicholson is brilliant as his role
the movie touches you , scares you, shocks you, keeps you guessing a little about what will happen at the end. but overall a truly moving movie. have it on dvd and it never let me down. it never has and never will. the crossing guard is truly a gem like Chinatown with Nicholson in it. I could watch this movie again and again and again. Nicholson really shines in this role for a movie. and the cast is innovative and picked out quite well :)