Crossroads

Plot synopsis:
Lucy (Britney Spears), Kit (Zoë Saldana), and Mimi (Taryn Manning) are three friends who live in a small Georgia town. While as young children, they bury a "wish box" and vow to dig it up on the night of their high school graduation, also pledging to stay best friends forever. However, as they grow up, their friendship fades due to their different approaches of high school: Lucy becomes the introverted valedictorian, Kit becomes the most popular girl in school, and Mimi is an outcast from a trailer park and facing teenage pregnancy. On the night of their graduation, they keep their promise and get together to open the "wish box". As they start talking again, they remember their old wishes while burying the box: Mimi wanted to travel to California, Lucy wanted to find the mother she cannot remember, and Kit wanted to get married. Mimi brings up the topic of going to Los Angeles for a record contract audition. Kit and Lucy try to convince Mimi to not go all the way to Los Angeles due to the fact that she's pregnant and anything dangerous can happen. However the next morning they decide to go together but each doing something separate; Mimi going to the audition, Kit visiting her fiancé and Lucy to see her mother in Tucson, Arizona.
They set out on the road with little money in a yellow 1973 Buick Skylark convertible with a guy named Ben (Anson Mount). Lucy, however, leaves without the permission of her overbearing father Pete (Dan Aykroyd), who wakes up the next day to find his daughter is gone. Shortly into their journey, the car breaks down. They realise that they don't have enough money between them for the travel or the repair costs. Mimi then suggests that she sing karaoke at a local bar, where good singers are tipped well by the customers. While at the bar, the girls dress up and go the stage to perform. However, when the song starts Mimi develops stage fright, being unable to sing. Seeing that they needed the money, Lucy takes her place, and quickly becomes a hit with the crowd. They make enough money to fix the car and continue on their way.
Shortly after the group checks into a motel, Kit tells the girls that she heard a rumor about Ben, commenting that he had recently been released from jail, after killing someone. The girls then spend most of the journey feeling uneasy around him, until they confront him. Ben reveals that he was in jail for driving his step-sister across state borders without parental consent, after his father was abusing her. Having established that Ben was not the assassin they imagined him to be, Lucy and Ben grow closer. The girls talk properly to each other for the first time since they were kids. Lucy reveals that her mother left her and her father when she was a child, but she is convinced her mother wants to find her, but is too afraid. Kit, who was overweight as a child, has an overbearing mother who sent her to "fat camp" but now cannot stand that her daughter is more beautiful than her. Mimi reveals that the baby's father was not her boyfriend, but a guy who raped her after she got drunk at a party.
After they arrive in Arizona, Lucy finally meets her mother Caroline after eighteen years; however, Caroline is not happy to see Lucy. She reveals that she has remarried, and that she now has two sons ages seven and ten. She reveals to Lucy that she was an unintended pregnancy and that she wants nothing to do with her, and Lucy leaves the house heartbroken. Promptly arriving at the motel, Ben comforts her. The following day, Lucy rejoins the others and goes on to Los Angeles. When they arrive, Kit brings Mimi along to surprise her fiance, Dylan. While alone in the hotel, Lucy gives her virginity to Ben and they fall in love with each other. When Kit and Mimi arrive to Dylan's place, it is revealed that he is cheating on Kit after they see another girl in his apartment. Already upset, Kit suddenly realizes that it was Dylan who raped Mimi and got her pregnant, and she punches him. Scared, Mimi runs away, and falls down the stairs. Consequently, she loses her baby. Because of this, Lucy decides to call her father to take her and the girls back home. However her father is still putting pressure on Lucy to do what he wants. After the entire journey she realizes that everything she's done has been to please her father instead of herself. Lucy tells her father to let her go and she runs after Ben, they embrace and kiss each other. She and the girls decide to stay with Ben and go to the audition. They receive a standing ovation after their performance of Lucy's poem; I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman."This time we didn't make any wishes for the future... We said goodbye to our past. Now, none of us have any idea where life's gonna take us. 'Cause what we have is now, and right now... we have Each Other."

Tags: paranormal

Review:
Perhaps the film, with it's magnificent Ry Cooder score, was just too far ahead of it's time, a strange criticism to apply to a Blues movie!The tale involves young Long Island guitar prodigy Eugene 'Lightning Boy' Martone (Ralph Macchio), a rebel at the Julliard School with his passion for the Blues ("Primitive music," one professor sneers), who is on a quest to recover legendary guitarist Robert Johnson's fabled "30th Song" of 1938.
Promising to 'give' the song to the youngster if he can be "busted out" and returned to his Mississippi home, the pair are soon on a cross-country trip, with Martone learning about discrimination, the 'darker' side of Man, and love's loss (through a brief encounter with Jami Gertz, who was never lovelier), providing him with the core of sadness Brown says is essential to truly play the Blues.The climax of the film is legendary; arriving home, Brown, who had 'sold his soul' to the Devil at the 'Crossroads' as a young man (just as his friend, Johnson, had), attempts to get 'Scratch' (skeletal Robert Judd) to tear up the contract.
With only his love of the Blues, Julliard training, and Brown's 'ju-ju' to aid him, the humbled Martone must play for far more than his life, in a guitar 'Duel' with the rocker (both parts were actually performed by the astonishingly gifted Vai) that is so fabulous that it is amazing that it was NOT included in the soundtrack album!Walter Hill was no stranger to music-themed fantasies (he also directed another 'ahead of it's time' cult film, STREETS OF FIRE), and with CROSSROADS he took a simple storyline, and turned it into an unforgettable musical experience..
Ralph Macchio is a brilliant young guitar student, Eugene Martone, at Julliard (or some other equally good music school) who does not want to play Mozart.
Eugene must also overcome the obstacles and tests that all those who quest must face - until it is time to face the ultimate test against the greatest blues guitarist in the Delta.I enjoy music, but my knowledge is superficial.
So, if you like good movies and good acting and great guitar music, please check out Crossroads.
Other than "The Blues Brothers," I can't think of another modern film about the Blues as good as Walter Hill's "Crossroads."  In the film, Ralph Macchio plays Eugene, an aspiring classical guitar prodigy at Julliard who is fascinated with the blues.
However, Willie has other plans including teaching Eugene the true meaning of Blues music that requires a trip back to Willie's stomping ground on the Delta.This is Hill's best film.
As Willie tells Eugene late in the film, "Blues ain't nothin' but a good man feelin' bad."  I love this movie!.
And no amount of exposition about it could ever *SPOIL* it for the virgin-viewer who has never seen it.Eugene Martone, considered a prodigy on the classical guitar, is a young Long Island man attending the prestigious Julliard Music School.
And Martone doesn't know that Brown's reason for going back to Mississippi is to return to the 'crossroads' where he and Johnson sold their souls in hopes of getting the Devil to release him from his contract.
The climax of the movie is the guitar duel between Eugene and Jack Butler (Steve Vai).
If the viewer loves blues like me, will certainly not get tired of watching this movie and listen to the CD with the marvelous soundtrack.
This kid Eugene (Ralph Macchio) is a classical guitar student with an obsession with the blues.
When he gets word of a lost song by the late, great Robert Johnson, he hunts down Johnson's still-living harp player, Willie Brown (Joe Seneca).
The movie is one of my all time favourites and I can watch it time and time again.Ralph Macchio plays the role of a young teenager, finding the blues and wanting to be a blues player instead of classical guitarist that he is training for.
The music played in the scene at the end where Eugene gets Scratch to tear up the contract for Willie's soul is magic and brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.
I have personally never had doubts about it, because music is life for me; but in this film, for writer John Fusco it was about growing up, understanding the gift and use it for good.Macchio portrayed Eugene Martone, a naive guy, gifted guitar player, crazy driven by the magic of blues.
The love for music makes our mind think unconsciously about getting far, being big; and Eugene wants to go to Mississippi to get his chance, but needs someone who knows Robert Johnson's lost melody, knows the way, and has even lived it, if you know what I mean.
In this story, that character is blues master Willie Brown (a tremendous Joe Seneca), now forgotten in an asylum, probably crazy (although he says he isn't but some brilliant sequences show him out of place) and without his car.
But Eugene will get him out of there and they'll both start that journey together.What happens next, including the various stops, problems, Ralph Macchio's wonderful guitar playing abilities and encounter with beautiful girl Frances (radiant and talented Jami Gertz) is for the viewer to discover.
The heart of his film lies in the development of the kid's and the old man's relationship.When we now see movies about music that sometimes don't even have a clue "musically" and most of the times there is music to promote an artist in the film, because he/she sings; in Hill's "Crossroads" and in the relationship I was talking about, the discussions, conversations, walks and even music playing, hide some of life's deepest interrogations.
The ending with Steve Vai, above all, is one of the greatest scenes I've seen and makes the whole movie worthwhile - and both Vai and 'Eugene' play a KILLER guitar (I think Stevie Ray Vaughan plays Eugene's part).
He meets harmonica legend Willie Brown, played by Joe Seneca, and together they start a journey from New York to Mississippi Delta, a kid hoping to learn the lost song of the legendary Robert Johnson and Willie in order to cancel his contract with the Devil.
I will only mention the good acting and superb music, for which are most responsible Ry Cooder and Steve Vai.I can not rate it ten, because I would not go so far as to place it among the best movies of all time, but, considering how many times I saw it, how many more times I will watch it in the future and the emotions it awakes in me every time, I can not rate it lower than9/10.
Crossroads (1986) *** (out of 4)Eugene Martone (Ralph Macchio) is a young man from Long Island who loves the Blues and the legend of Robert Johnson.
He tracks down Willie Brown (Joe Seneca) who was the last person alive to play with Johnson in hopes that he will turn over a lost song that the Blues legend recorded.
Soon the two are on a road trip to Mississippi where Eugene wants to become a Blues legend himself while Willie has an old score to settle.Walter Hill's CROSSROADS is a love letter to Blues musicians of the past and there's no question that it does a great job at paying respect to them.
The love letter to the Blues is obvious but there's also a nice road picture here as well as one excellent performance.What I enjoyed most about Hill's film is that the director perfectly nails the Southern locations and I thought he did a marvelous job at making you feel as if you were watching a true myth come to life.
There are scenes at the Crossroads where the Blues magicians sell their soul in order to play and I thought these scenes were highly effective and one wishes that an entire movie would be made of this and Johnson.
This was one of Ralph Macchio's best films i thought the story line and music were brilliant.
Ralph Macchio is a great actor and for me,growing up in the 70's and 80's was the best years of my life,the music the films and actors like Ralph Macchio made it all worth while.
His relationship between Ralph and Joe really comes through in this film and the more times you see Crossroads the more you get to like it.
Macchio and Seneca both put on a great performance as actors for this movie to really make people think Johnson actually tried "selling his soul." That was a good plot in the movie.
At the crossroads Robert Johnson, the greatest blues guitarist of all time, sold his soul to the devil for talent and fame, so the legend goes.
Ralph Macchio who had incidentally already been the "Karate Kid", a movie with a different subject but a similar setup, does a great job at mimicking to play the guitar.
The movie's heart is of course the guitar duel at the end, where Steve Vai makes a prominent appearance.
If you dig the Robert Johnson legend, like music, especially blues, and you like listening to 2 of the premier rock guitarists of the past 20 years (Steve Vai and Ry Cooder "cuttin' heads"), you will enjoy the heck out of this story.
You know that if a bunch of Berklee College of Music guys could sit around and watch this without sarcastically ripping up Ralph Macchio's guitar performance, then it must be good.
Anyway, great movies, I love the Blues, especially slide guitar..
The main character Eugene (Ralph Macchio) is a self-proclaimed blues man in search of a lost song by legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson.
I felt her performance seemed a bit forced.I used to watch the ending scene of this movie over and over, rewinding to the point where Scratch says, 'Jack Butler's gonna like you...' with the fade to clouds and the virtuosity of Steve Vai showing how the Devil's Henchman would play the guitar.
Crossroads is one of those rare gems, a film which at first glance may look like a movie which is un-deserving of your attention, but, the more you watch it, the more it pulls you deeper and deeper in, climaxing with the fantastic 'cutting heads' sequence.
Ry Cooder did all of the blues guitar for the film and Macchio does an excellent job of looking like he is really playing the parts.
Steve Vai is perfect for the part of the devil's disciple just because he looks so wicked and his playing is even more wicked (which he played himself of course.) Although it was Vai that attracted me to the movie in the first place, I really thought they did a great job writing the "Robert Johnson at the crossroads" blues mythology into the plot.
It's the story of a young white boy dreaming of becoming a great blues guitarist, looking for a lost song by Robert Johnson, one of the greatest blues men, ever.
The boy knows that the still living harmonica player Willie Brown was a partner of the legendary blues musician Robert Johnson, manages to find him in a nursing home and makes a deal with the old man.
He'll help him come back a crossroads where he had once signed a pact with the devil to become a great musician, if the old man teaches him the lost Johnson song.
Maybe...But if you have a chance, go to Clarksdale (MS) where three crossed guitars at a crossroads, mark where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil to play his own blues, and don't miss some live blues at Red's, not far from that same crossroads: you will taste some amazing live blues music, enjoy the company of hearty people, and experience some real South..
This is an incredibly good movie, with great music, good acting and surprise twist near the end.It is the story of a young naive man (guitar player) with a dream and an old, travel hardened man with a quest.
Eugene Martone (Ralph Macchio) is a young classical guitar prodigy who has a strong underlying passion to play the blues.
The two blues-men adventure from New York to the Mississippi Delta to learn the lost song and, most importantly, to break the deal with the devil that Willie had made there many years before.The film encompasses two main philosophical ideas.
In a very powerful scene Willie Brown explains, "The blues ain't nothing' but a good man feelin' bad, thinking' 'bout the woman he once was with." It also contains a supernatural aspect that creates a wonderful and very climactic conflict resolution with an uplifting feeling for the end of the movie.
Incredible music, well acted (the battle between Steve Vai and Macchio towards the end is stirring), and the source of one of my favorite lines: "The blues ain't nothing but a good man feelin' bad".
A down-on-his-luck white kid (Ralph Macchio) hooks up with a grizzled old guru (Joe Seneca) to learn the deeper secrets of their craft--in this film, it's Delta-style blues guitar.
And like the Karate Kid, there's a final showdown with a rival master, who in this case happens to be none other than guitar great Steve Vai.Though "Crossroads" isn't anywhere near the same league in terms of plot, execution, etc., the guitar duel at the end rivals the likes of "Shine" in terms of sheer musical spectacle.
A fantastic story about a young boy (Ralph Macchio) named Eugene "Lightning Boy" Martone who is a classical guitar prodigy enrolled at Julliard Music School who in reality has his heart set on Blues.
His hope of finding and making his own recording of the song that could serve him as the entrance to the blues scene leads him to discover that Willie Brown (Joe Seneca), a Blues harmonica player who played with Johnson, is alive and nearby; which means he is the only person who could have knowledge of this lost song.
The soundtrack of the movie is killer; most of the blues stuff played by Macchio was arranged by Ry Cooder and the entire music of the final battle was arranged and recorded by Steve Vai, which included a sensational take on Paganini's 5th caprice.
This movie is basically all about the blues, the story about achieving musical excellence through a deal with the devil, the somewhat tempestuous dynamic between Macchio and Seneca, that mesmerizing guitar duel and the triumph of real heartfelt passion over soulless technical proficiency.Crossroads should definitely be rewatched from time to time; I for one definitely look forward to revisiting this overlooked classic once more in the future.
'Crossroads' is the musical version of 'The Karate Kid' at almost every aspect of it.The idea of a rock/blues movie puts off some of the audience, like the Britney Spears fans (she played in the 2002 'Crossroads', totally irrelevant), but you don't have to be a music fan to enjoy this one.Great stuff.10/10.
The final showdown with Steve Vai as "Jack Butler" and Macchio's "Eugene" (Eugene's guitar work is done by Ry Cooder, a living legend of the blues) is fantastic guitar!!!.
Macchio is a kid playing classical guitar at Julliard in New York, but in secret he's in love with the scratchy Mississippi tunes coming from Richard Johnson.
He tracks down an old harmonica playing fox from these days, an 80 year old "blues man" called Willie Fox who laughs him in the face when he shows up with his guitar saying he's born and raised at Long Island.
Willie's got a point though, and he knows a heluvalot more about the blues than Macchio's kid (who's name is Eugene, but quickly changes it to 'Lightning Boy').
A great film with some wonderful guitar work by Steve Vai and Ry Cooder.
Ralph Macchio really delivered during his Karate Kid days, and this is his most triumphant performance yet, as he portrays a young, gifted guitarist obsessed with the legend of the great Robert Johnson, who journeyed to the crossroads to make a pact with the devil so he could play like no one else.
Eugene seeks the great harmonica player Willie Brown who supposedly wrote a final song together with Robert Johnson that was never released.
At the end of the film, the kid makes a similar deal with the devil, only in this case he offers to play in a "musical duel".
And the story is kept on an acceptable level of suspense: Will our hero become friends with Willie Brown, the old blues harmonica player who supposedly performed with Robert Johnson way back when?
The music is great, (it's not the karate kid's playing) but what do you expect from Ry Cooder and Steve vai...
And this is what a young classical guitarist with a blues itch named Eugene Martone, played by Ralph Macchio, wants to record to make himself famous.He finds revamped version of "Mr. Miyagi" an eighty-year-old African American blues man stuck in a rest home.
Crossroads is the story of aspiring Blues guitarist, and current classical guitar student at the Julliard School of Music, Eugene Martone.
Willie finally tells Eugene the reason they are going to the crossroads is that he has to meet a man that he long ago made a deal with...a deal for his soul in exchange for the music.
Even if you are not a great blues fan you will love this movie.
It has one of the best soundtracks ever but apart from that the directing is very good and so is the acting.****SOME SPOILERS***Eugene Martone(Ralph Macchio) is a classical guitar student and a real blues fanatic.
He tracks down Willie Brown (Joe Seneca), a supposed partner of the blues legend Robert Johnson.
At that time we believed it and no tech / special Fx were needed to tell a story.The movie is OK and the guitar-play is great.KarateKid playing the blues and kicking devils butt.