For decades, musicians have been stepping into the role of actors on the big screen. Rock bands experimented with their art on film in the 60's and 70's, crooners like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra appeared in movies, Elvis had a tremendous impact on cinema, and Michael Jackson had Moonwalker in the 80's, which was the beginnings of a change. While some of the musicals artists starred in were unconnected to their discographies, as time went on, the ventures they appeared in became custom-built vanity productions whose primary aim was to expand the empires of its stars, sometimes at the cost of true enjoyment. In the 1990s, pop star movies were a good example of this. Mariah Carey's self-esteem soared thanks to the critically panned Glitter, which featured the Spice Girls and a backup dance crew decked out in assless pyjamas singing Gary Glitter songs. Cinema concerts began to take over in the early 2000s, when S Club 7 released their bizarre clone movie.
On the night of their high school prom, childhood friends Lucy (Britney Spears), Mimi (Taryn Manning), and Kit (Zoe Saldana) make a pledge to dig up a time capsule they buried as a group in their backyard. After all, they've all gone their own ways and scarcely even acknowledge each other in the school hallways. They rejoin, though, since they have nothing better to do. They giggle at how foolish they once were. A recording contract audition is in the cards for Mimi, and she asks the ladies to join her on the road trip to California. When Kit's fiancé tells her he won't be attending her wedding in LA, she accepts, even though she intends to show up unannounced to the home of her mother, whom she has never met. What is there to lose?
crossroads zie saldana and britney spears Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
A typical road movie has them initially having fun, then realizing why they are no longer friends. They then begin to mend fences and eventually become good friends again. Along the way, they do insane things like earn money singing karaoke, stay in crappy hotels, and receive insect bites on their buttocks. It is, however, the release that they all so desperately want. The girls, each in her own way, are engrossed in their overly mature lives when they should be relishing the perks of adolescence. While Kit is shackled to a long-distance relationship, Mimi is struggling to make ends meet and is expecting her first child, Lucy has dedicated her entire life to the pursuit of a medical degree. To cope with their current circumstances, each of them overlooks the fulfillment they could be experiencing, so a spontaneous road trip with friends they haven't seen in a long time turns out to be the release they all truly require.
As Pete, Lucy's hard-working mechanic father (played by Dan Aykroyd), he bears the brunt of the film's humor and pathos. In order to ease his daughter's entry into the highly competitive field of medicine, he has spent years cultivating relationships and providing mates' rates. Because of his strong work ethic and desire for Lucy's success, he doesn't even realize how much she has lost out on, such as friendships and football games. In a way, he's like Dan Aykroyd's Harry Sultenfuss from the My Girl movies, who was far better. He provides the security that young people so sorely need in a society that appears to be bereft of father figures; he even steps in to provide fatherly support to the other girls when their own parents aren't there to do it. A well-functioning and emotionally healthy child may be the result of a strong support system, as he demonstrates.
Years before she became Pennsatucky, the zealot from the bad side of the tracks on OITNB, Taryn Manning worked on Crossroads as an actress. Even though it seems like Mimi's true personality is put into every performance, this may be what makes Mimi such a raw and accessible figure. She is a stunningly genuine character, miserable and despondent, sunk into the mediocrity of her existence. Mimi, in contrast to the swaggering 'bad' juvenile characters, presents a more realistic view of the types of people who may come from poor backgrounds.
crossroads-britney-spears-1
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
It's not long before she became a household name, but Zoe Saldana demonstrates a wonderful talent for humor as Kit. She's the privileged affluent girl who's just finishing off the formalities of high school before becoming a pampered LA housewife. Nothing or anybody in her little village of a thousand people interests her. Instead, she is consumed by the fictitious world she has created in her mind, one that is brought to a grinding halt by cold, harsh reality. It takes a lot of skill and timing for Saldana to pull off the snippy Real Housewives-style snark, but she does it well and convincingly that LA is already overrun with her. For her story to have meaning, she has to show her emotional range, and she emerges as a better person because of it, as opposed to any of the other characters in the film.
Nobody expected Shakespeare from Britney, who was known more for her lip syncing and her attractive appearance in low-rise jeans than for any other type of acting work.. Even yet, Britney's enthusiasm for this endeavor and her desire to demonstrate her skills shine through in her performance. When she's not batting her eyelids and talking in people's ear, she has something to gnaw on in her low-rise pants, which is a rare treat for her. Lucy's vision of showing up at her mother's door and being greeted with open arms goes up in smoke, and she returns dejected to the motel room where the group is sleeping. As soon as her mother essentially informed her she had made a mistake, she breaks into sobs. When Britney sees this, she snatches it and runs with it. With her heartbrokenness on full display, Lucy helps the other characters form stronger bonds with each other by showing her vulnerability.
Everybody was pleased with the outcome of the Crossroads project, except for its primary audience. With the help of Grey's Anatomy showrunner Shonda Rhimes and music video director Tamra Davis, Britney Spears stated her desire to make a movie. As she began to abandon her good Christian girl persona, a coming-of-age film might reflect her growing creative and emotional maturity and serve as validation for her fans as she made the change. Spears turned down several film offers because she wanted to pursue something she was passionate about. For this pivot, the film relies on the usage of Britney Spears music, including "I'm not yet a woman, but a girl," and "Overprotected," which are both extremely on-the-nose songs about the need of making errors in order to grow and embrace the messiness of youth.
CrossroadsImage courtesy of Paramount.
At this point in her career, Britney was mostly seen as a kids' brand; as a result, her departure from the Southern Belle character was met with indignation. Toxic appeal hadn't yet taken hold in the mid-teens, so many kids considered her music old and stale by the time they were teenagers. So why is Crossroads so mature? If parents thought Britney's skimpy costumes were horrible role models, wait till they saw her drinking and having sex outside of marriage in the movies! The movie was out only a few weeks after it was revealed that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were no longer together, further cementing Britney's breakaway from the family-friendly double-denim image. However, more than just one pop singer fighting against her typecast or a pop star movie rebelling against its generally superficial confines were represented by this film.
If a movie dares to look into some of life's darkest issues, it doesn't follow through on its threat. The opposite is true; it seems to be wary of them instead. Mimi's future as a poor teen mother with only a high school education is no longer important because she lost the baby in a tragic accident; Lucy's little excursion jeopardizes the connections she has spent years making to facilitate a medical career, but it's okay because she's now a pop star, a profession renowned for its longevity! Girls go out with a newly released inmate who turns out to be perfectly innocent. For a PG-13 film, the resolutions of the tales of the girls are unrealistically happy. They haven't had a chance to learn from their mistakes since a solution has already been provided for them.
When Mimi was raped and unexpectedly lost her unborn child, how will she deal with the trauma? A career as a singer may seem like a dream come true for Lucy, but is it all she really wants to do? As many of Simon Cowell's victims would testify, winning a talent contest does not guarantee a long-term career. What if she could find methods to combine her job goals with her passion? Isn't it selfish and foolish of her to subject her father through such an ordeal?
It dared to be distinctive despite its accreditation and target market, despite the fact that Crossroads failed to fully examine the repercussions. For all intents and purposes, it wasn't meant to serve as a promotional tool for an album. Britney's image perpetuated an ideal pop star world where meaningful stories didn't exist, so the film wanted to tell a story that didn't fit in. It may not be Stand By Me or a John Hughes film, but it has more intellect and more heart than star vehicle movies ever care to possess, and it proved to be a very wise choice for Britney Spears at a key period in her career. "
On the night of their high school prom, childhood friends Lucy (Britney Spears), Mimi (Taryn Manning), and Kit (Zoe Saldana) make a pledge to dig up a time capsule they buried as a group in their backyard. After all, they've all gone their own ways and scarcely even acknowledge each other in the school hallways. They rejoin, though, since they have nothing better to do. They giggle at how foolish they once were. A recording contract audition is in the cards for Mimi, and she asks the ladies to join her on the road trip to California. When Kit's fiancé tells her he won't be attending her wedding in LA, she accepts, even though she intends to show up unannounced to the home of her mother, whom she has never met. What is there to lose?
crossroads zie saldana and britney spears Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
A typical road movie has them initially having fun, then realizing why they are no longer friends. They then begin to mend fences and eventually become good friends again. Along the way, they do insane things like earn money singing karaoke, stay in crappy hotels, and receive insect bites on their buttocks. It is, however, the release that they all so desperately want. The girls, each in her own way, are engrossed in their overly mature lives when they should be relishing the perks of adolescence. While Kit is shackled to a long-distance relationship, Mimi is struggling to make ends meet and is expecting her first child, Lucy has dedicated her entire life to the pursuit of a medical degree. To cope with their current circumstances, each of them overlooks the fulfillment they could be experiencing, so a spontaneous road trip with friends they haven't seen in a long time turns out to be the release they all truly require.
As Pete, Lucy's hard-working mechanic father (played by Dan Aykroyd), he bears the brunt of the film's humor and pathos. In order to ease his daughter's entry into the highly competitive field of medicine, he has spent years cultivating relationships and providing mates' rates. Because of his strong work ethic and desire for Lucy's success, he doesn't even realize how much she has lost out on, such as friendships and football games. In a way, he's like Dan Aykroyd's Harry Sultenfuss from the My Girl movies, who was far better. He provides the security that young people so sorely need in a society that appears to be bereft of father figures; he even steps in to provide fatherly support to the other girls when their own parents aren't there to do it. A well-functioning and emotionally healthy child may be the result of a strong support system, as he demonstrates.
Years before she became Pennsatucky, the zealot from the bad side of the tracks on OITNB, Taryn Manning worked on Crossroads as an actress. Even though it seems like Mimi's true personality is put into every performance, this may be what makes Mimi such a raw and accessible figure. She is a stunningly genuine character, miserable and despondent, sunk into the mediocrity of her existence. Mimi, in contrast to the swaggering 'bad' juvenile characters, presents a more realistic view of the types of people who may come from poor backgrounds.
crossroads-britney-spears-1
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
It's not long before she became a household name, but Zoe Saldana demonstrates a wonderful talent for humor as Kit. She's the privileged affluent girl who's just finishing off the formalities of high school before becoming a pampered LA housewife. Nothing or anybody in her little village of a thousand people interests her. Instead, she is consumed by the fictitious world she has created in her mind, one that is brought to a grinding halt by cold, harsh reality. It takes a lot of skill and timing for Saldana to pull off the snippy Real Housewives-style snark, but she does it well and convincingly that LA is already overrun with her. For her story to have meaning, she has to show her emotional range, and she emerges as a better person because of it, as opposed to any of the other characters in the film.
Nobody expected Shakespeare from Britney, who was known more for her lip syncing and her attractive appearance in low-rise jeans than for any other type of acting work.. Even yet, Britney's enthusiasm for this endeavor and her desire to demonstrate her skills shine through in her performance. When she's not batting her eyelids and talking in people's ear, she has something to gnaw on in her low-rise pants, which is a rare treat for her. Lucy's vision of showing up at her mother's door and being greeted with open arms goes up in smoke, and she returns dejected to the motel room where the group is sleeping. As soon as her mother essentially informed her she had made a mistake, she breaks into sobs. When Britney sees this, she snatches it and runs with it. With her heartbrokenness on full display, Lucy helps the other characters form stronger bonds with each other by showing her vulnerability.
Everybody was pleased with the outcome of the Crossroads project, except for its primary audience. With the help of Grey's Anatomy showrunner Shonda Rhimes and music video director Tamra Davis, Britney Spears stated her desire to make a movie. As she began to abandon her good Christian girl persona, a coming-of-age film might reflect her growing creative and emotional maturity and serve as validation for her fans as she made the change. Spears turned down several film offers because she wanted to pursue something she was passionate about. For this pivot, the film relies on the usage of Britney Spears music, including "I'm not yet a woman, but a girl," and "Overprotected," which are both extremely on-the-nose songs about the need of making errors in order to grow and embrace the messiness of youth.
CrossroadsImage courtesy of Paramount.
At this point in her career, Britney was mostly seen as a kids' brand; as a result, her departure from the Southern Belle character was met with indignation. Toxic appeal hadn't yet taken hold in the mid-teens, so many kids considered her music old and stale by the time they were teenagers. So why is Crossroads so mature? If parents thought Britney's skimpy costumes were horrible role models, wait till they saw her drinking and having sex outside of marriage in the movies! The movie was out only a few weeks after it was revealed that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were no longer together, further cementing Britney's breakaway from the family-friendly double-denim image. However, more than just one pop singer fighting against her typecast or a pop star movie rebelling against its generally superficial confines were represented by this film.
If a movie dares to look into some of life's darkest issues, it doesn't follow through on its threat. The opposite is true; it seems to be wary of them instead. Mimi's future as a poor teen mother with only a high school education is no longer important because she lost the baby in a tragic accident; Lucy's little excursion jeopardizes the connections she has spent years making to facilitate a medical career, but it's okay because she's now a pop star, a profession renowned for its longevity! Girls go out with a newly released inmate who turns out to be perfectly innocent. For a PG-13 film, the resolutions of the tales of the girls are unrealistically happy. They haven't had a chance to learn from their mistakes since a solution has already been provided for them.
When Mimi was raped and unexpectedly lost her unborn child, how will she deal with the trauma? A career as a singer may seem like a dream come true for Lucy, but is it all she really wants to do? As many of Simon Cowell's victims would testify, winning a talent contest does not guarantee a long-term career. What if she could find methods to combine her job goals with her passion? Isn't it selfish and foolish of her to subject her father through such an ordeal?
It dared to be distinctive despite its accreditation and target market, despite the fact that Crossroads failed to fully examine the repercussions. For all intents and purposes, it wasn't meant to serve as a promotional tool for an album. Britney's image perpetuated an ideal pop star world where meaningful stories didn't exist, so the film wanted to tell a story that didn't fit in. It may not be Stand By Me or a John Hughes film, but it has more intellect and more heart than star vehicle movies ever care to possess, and it proved to be a very wise choice for Britney Spears at a key period in her career. "
