Customer Reviews

Crossover [UMD for PSP]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Cons: In the beginning of the movie, the plot seemed predictable and some of the dialogue didn't roll off the tongues of the actors very well. Anthony Mackie sounded a little too grown to be saying some of the slang he was saying, or maybe I just wasn't convinced that he was someone who came from jail. I was slightly weary of the two main characters being friends, because the beginning didn't give me a feeling that they connected. That is, until the cash register scene when math came into play. I was honestly wondering for the first 20 minutes whether I'd wasted my money.

Pros: Wesley Jonathan and Lil JJ are some fools! I went to see this movie with a big audience who had a sense of humor, so all of us spent half the movie laughing at those two cracking jokes. I'm still giggling about Wesley Jonathan's "We go together" comment and Lil JJ's comment on "housesitting." For such a serious theme, those two were the perfect ones to bring comedy to the movie. On a superficial note, I think Wesley Jonathan's hair looks GORGEOUS in braids.
This movie touched on a lot of not-so-popular topics like the embarassment of not finishing high school, the struggle of getting a GED, how street codes and friendship can clash, golddiggers, real love vs. temporary lust, sports agency greed, and crooked cops. The guy who played the arrogant famous ball player did so very well. After I got more into the movie, I enjoyed Anthony Mackie's character and Wayne Brady's character as well. The climax scene in L.A. opened my eyes to a lot of things that made this movie not the typical sports movie and the ending was fabulous. I respected what the writers did with this one quite a bit, and the flying money scene was clever. Obviously by the time the movie was over, I realized that my money was well spent on a movie I'm surprised hit the show considering it went against the grain of the typical Hollywood stereotypes.

CROSSOVER has style. Writer/director Preston A. Whitmore II makes up in visual technique and pacing what he lacks in a somewhat tired script, and simply sitting back and watching the movement for this viewer makes the movie worthwhile.

The story details the mechanisms of the underground betting on streetball in Detroit - basketball teams that that serve as betting pawns for promoters. Caught up in the flashy court skills are two close friends - Tech (Anthony Mackie), who has a crime record and dreams of plying pro-ball for the NBA, and Noah Cruise (the very fine and hunky Wesley Jonathan) whose goal is to use his streetball earnings to enter college and medical school. The friends' big rival team is headed by Jewelz (actual ball player Phillip "Hot Sauce" Champion) and the betting setups between these two rival teams strikes the flame for the action that follows. Of course there is the requisite romantic interest (both for good and bad) brought to play by fine actors Alecia Jai Fears, Shelli Boone and Eva Pigford and in the end the story is more about friendship and trust and commitment than it is about winning.

Whitmore elects to cut and splice his shots of the games like a DJ on a record spin and that aspect of the film is fascinating and creative. He also capitalizes on a fine chemistry that Anthony Mackie and Wesley Johnson generate. The plot is predictable and the story has been done before, but in the end the film satisfies because of the way it plays - and because of the choreography on the court! Grady Harp, February 07

My kidz and I enjoyed this dreadful exercise in predictability and bad acting for all the wrong reasons: We playfully wagered on what actors would say next (and I use that word "actors" very loosely). It's full of cliches of all kinds. We would rewind and laugh at the scenes containing Eva Pigford's unbelievably horrid acting (please, for God's sake, stick to simply being a model!). We'd pretend to be menaced and afraid by appearances of that definitive "hood" slickster, aka Wayne Brady ("New Jack City's" Nino Brown has got nothing on him!!!). And we were amused at how surprisingly weak the basketball scenes were. The on-the-court scenes contained lots of edits and cut-aways that marked staged shots. And for a movie about b'ball, the court scenes were extremely minimal and unexciting. On a serious note, please observe this theory of mine if you rent this film (for God's sake don't buy it): Sometimes, being surrounded by bad actors and faced with a bad script can even make a good actor bad. Case in point, Anthony Mackie. He's clearly got skills, but he had no business being in this foul of a film! This movie surely falls under the "So bad it's good" banner. If you rent it expecting anything else, you will surely be disappointed.

I've watched a lot of street ball but I never played "street ball", so I could be totally off base with some of my comments, but I'm pretty sure there is not a huge gambling ring which focuses on this sport. In Crossover, the underground street ball games take place in an abandoned train station, where fouls and show stopping are not only allowed, it's encouraged. These "secret games" have a somewhat decent crowd of spectators, which includes a full cheerleading squad and a DJ who spins records in between plays.

It's actually quite a shame that a good movie has not been made on the subject of underground street basketball. At least not in the last 10 years, as Ron Shelton's 1992 film "White Men Can't Jump" may be the only exception. This is one of those predictable movies where you can spot the payoffs before the script even plants the set up. Noah Cruise (played by Wesley Jonathan) is a hard working student who is banking on a basketball scholarship so that he can study medicine in college. But he's sucked into playing in the underground league by his best friend Tech (played by Anthony Mackie), who he somehow owes big time. If Cruise is caught playing for such a league, he could loose his college scholarship. Wayne Brady plays a former NBA agent named Vaughn, the rebel ruler of the underground street ball circuit. He tries his best to put on his "serious face" but it just comes off as laughable. Brady might be good at the improve stuff, a script must feel like imprisonment. At least that's how it comes off. Vaughn wants Cruise on his roster, but the kid has other plans. Cruise and Tech become involved with two young ladies who work at the mall. Young love blossoms and news of Cruise's involvement with the underground sport leaks to the press and so forth.

The written dialogue in this film wasn't so great as well as some of the performances. Eva Pigford, for example, plays one of the girlfriends and unfortunately shows no acting ability or formal training even though she's a great model; but Little JJ, who plays Up, is may be the only likable character/actor in the whole movie. This kid has charisma, and will have a long career if he can ever rise above. If anything, Crossover does offer a good message to youths: Education should be valued over the big money dreams of a sports career. However, I'm not sure this film does a good job delivering the message.

This movie has a very weak storyline that is not helped by the horrid acting throughout. Also there are only two basketball games in the whole movie which are not really entertaining. A bunch of slam dunks is really all you get in this one. Add this movie to your collection only if you are going for quantity and not quality.

This was a great movie! It tells the truth of how a basketball player can go pro and have a hard time fitting in with all the pressure out there. Very good movie!

I love the edge to this movie. It's not over the top. Just enough to keep it interesting, but still be PG. Surprisingly good acting skills demonstrated by Wayne Brady.

This movie was horrible. It had bad acting and unbelievable scenarios. I had to give it an extra star because no matter how terrible it keeps getting you can't help but watch it to the end.

This movie sucked from beginning to end. In fact, the ending was the best part. The acting was terrible at best, the plot was lame, the storyline and script was predictable, and for this to be a hooping movie, there were only 2 legit games. And the games were poorly staged rehearsals. They're staged in all b-ball movies, but these were hideous. The best actor was Lil' J.J., and since he's a comedian, he doesn't even count.

I did not know that "Crossover" held the "bottom" spot on the International Movie Data Base's list of "Bottom 100" movies of all-time when I watched it this week. As of this writing (and I am sure things will change) it has a rating of 1.2, which means it has quite a gap between it and "The Hillz," the next film on the list. Rounding out the current Bottom 10 are "Bottoms Up," "Going Overboard," "From Justin to Kelly," "SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2," "Santa with Muscles," "Car 54, Where Are You?", "Chairman of the Board," and "Love in Paris." I have not seen all of these, but my vote for the bottom most rung still goes to "Manos: Hands of Fate." That particular former holder of the bottom spot is currently ranked #11, and the fact it is not in the Bottom 10 is a clear sign that there are problems with voting on such things. But even given that a lot of what is here is ludicrous, why "Crossover" deserves this particular dishonor seems a bit harsh.

A "crossover" is a dribble move in basketball where the player with the ball switches it quickly from one hand to the other. You have the normal crossover, the killer crossover, and the double crossover. I think all three of those show up in this movie, but the importance of the title is as a metaphor for the situation of the protagonists. In Detroit we have "Tech" (Anthony Mackie) and "Cruise" (Wesley Jonathan), teammates on the Enemy of the State streetball team. The key things about streetball are that as long as you score with style and avoid flagrant fouls or gang fights, you can get away with as many steps to the basket as you want to take (the whole idea of not needing any stinkin' rules apparently has great appeal on the street, although the net result is not as much fun as slamball). "Cruise" has a college scholarship waiting for him and plans on becoming a doctor, while "Tech" is a lot more interested in beating an opposing team the Platinums led by Jewelz (Phillip Champion). But when they play in a game set up by Vaughn (Wayne Brady), their respective fortunes start to go in a new set of opposite directions and their lives are complicated by all sorts of things, including a pair of women, Eboni (Alecia Fears) and Vanessa (Eva Pigford).

Clearly the master metaphor here is that these guys are trying to "crossover" from the basketball courts on the streets to something better, which may or may not have to do with playing basketball. At face value this would certainly seem to be a laudable message, especially given the N.B.A.'s efforts to do something about all those high school phenoms who get drafted in the first round and never get their careers off the bench. In the end I round up on "Crossover" because of that intention. But writer-director Preston A. Whitmore II ("Doing Hard Time") has problems with his dialogue taking away from his message the same way his shooting of the basketball scenes strips them of their drama as well. I mean, come on, if you are playing a team that is undefeated, why would you want to do much more than just beat them? Because that way of upping the ante is consistent with the melodramatic bent of Whitemore's script, both in terms of story and dialogue. Besides, when you have Brady playing the heavy, you know there are going to be casting problems as well.

However, despite all of the above the animosity against "Crossover" surprises me and in the final analysis my only explanation is that to attempt such a message film and then saddle it with so many problems is grossly offensive to the target audience of which, it need hardly be said, I am not a member. That probably explains why I was only bored by the film. Of course, if I had known this is the current worst film of all-time I would have checked it out even sooner (which is what I did the last time I looked and the IMDB had "Materials Girls" on the bottom of the list and "Crossovers" is way better than that disaster from the sisters Duff currently nestled in 28th place).