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Crossroads

Crossroads on DVD

Crossroads is exactly what you would expect a Britney Spears movie to be.

Nothing more, nothing less.

It features Britney Spears dancing in her underwear, a couple of Britney Spears songs, and has Britney Spears playing a nice girl who just wants to have fun for a change.

Spears is Lucy, the daughter of a loving but overprotective father, who once made a pact with her two at-the-time-best-friends to dig up their memory box at midnight on prom night. By this time though, they're no longer best friends and are more hostile towards each other than anything else. But they decide to show up anyway, and for some odd reason decide to take a cross-country road trip together. They all want to go that way for different reasons, so they might as well go together. To add to it, they're getting a ride from a guy they don't even know.

But at least he's hot, so it doesn't matter if he's a psychopath. Which, interestingly enough, he may very well be.

Crossroads is a chick flick at its most chick-flickiness. We see what girls do when girls get together (a frightening thought), it has cringe-inducing dialogue, and oh yes, it stars Britney Spears.

This is the kind of film that's more for younger and middle teen girls than anybody else. Slightly older females may also enjoy it, but there's probably not a man on the planet that could sit through it without rolling his eyes numerous times.

Much like A Walk to Remember (starring Britney's younger, more talented version, Mandy Moore), almost everything in Crossroads is completely predictable. You can probably quote lines before they're said in the film, and you can definitely figure out each and every detail of the done-many-times-before plot.

It may not be my type, but it was made for young girls and it will entertain young girls. I guess, then, it's done its job.

And did I mention it stars Britney Spears?

What a sad day it is when this movie gets a better DVD than almost any Paramount release to date. The picture and sound may not be great, but it has enough supplements to keep you entertained for hours.

The picture is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, and looks pretty soft throughout most of the film. At some points the lighting seems a little off, but it's hard to tell if that's the DVD or the original production. There isn't much grain or anything, but there's still no excuse for the softness of the picture.

The audio should have been done better, too. Paramount DVD's rarely seem to make good use of the 5.1 Dolby Digital, and this is no exception. Pretty much everything sonic is confined to the front channels, despite opportunities for great surround use, such as the Karaoke scene.

The extras start off with a DVD welcome by Ms. Spears herself, as well as two music videos. Then you can "Break Through Britney," which is a series of facts and inside comments accessible during the movie. There is a commentary by producer Ann Carli, director Tamra Davis and writer Shonda Rhimes, "40 Days with Britney: The Making of Crossroads," "First in Line: Inside the Crossroads Premiere," and deleted scenes with introduction by Tamra Davis. Other extras include two karaoke videos, an edit your own music video section, "How to make the T-shirts from the 'I Love Rock n' Roll' karaoke scene," a photo gallery, and trailers.

If only Paramount would give this kind of treatment to all their DVDs.

Crossroads, from Paramount Home Entertainment
93 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) 16X9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital
Starring Britney Spears, Anson Mount, Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning and Dan Aykroyd
Produced by Ann Carli, Written by Shonda Rhimes
Directed by Tamra Davis

 

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Updated May 13, 2006