One reason to see Crossroads -- Britney Spears. Another reason to steer clear of Crossroads -- Britney Spears.
It's clear that being the reigning queen of pop affords Spears the luxury to indulge in pretty much whatever she pleases. Like Madonna, the Spice Girls, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey before her, the 21-year-old Spears does enough acting in her videos and live shows to warrant that next step: A foray into the thespian world.
Lo and behold! Yonder comes producer Ann Carli and screenwriter Shonda Rimes with a vehicle for Spears to show off more of that girl-next-door charm, innocent sex-kitten appeal and, oh yeah, a chance to plug her latest ode, I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman.
Does it really matter whether Spears actually can act? Just knowing this is the Britster's big-screen debut will haul in a loyal gaggle of fans who'll be gleefully giggling at the sight of her light sexual romps, miming of other people's hits (Madonna, Shania Twain and Sheryl Crow, not to mention a gawdawful watery take on Joan Jett's I Love Rock 'N Roll).
Sheer kid-fluential marketing genius, no?
The story that passes for Crossroads' plot may make sense to Spears' target audience.
Three Georgia childhood pals plant a time capsule which they plan to dig up upon graduating from high school.
Spears plays Lucy, the proper and moral girl who does everything, well, proper and moral to please her strict, divorced father (Dan Aykroyd): She is studious, winds up as class valedictorian and abstains from sex. So perfect, yet poor Lucy is so unhappy.
"I never went to one football game. You're supposed to go to football games. You're supposed to be having fun," she whimpers to her 'Pop.' (Do people still call their dads 'Pop?' Wait, Pop. Popstar. I get it ...)
So Lucy does what any teen in her position would do: Rebel.
In a nice way, though.
She tries her first sexual encounter, only to abort the whole thang. Then she and her two friends, self-centred prom queen Kit (Zoe Saldana) and the rough-hewn, five-month-pregnant Mimi (Taryn Manning) hook up with a male ex-con, Ben (Anson Mount), and decide on a whim to ride away and seek the bright lights of Los Angeles.
Each is in pursuit of a destiny: Kit plans to meet her fiance, Mimi hopes to land a singing deal and ponder a future as a single mom. Lucy simply wishes to meet her mother (Kim Cattrall) who abandoned her when she was young.
Realisitically, a road trip like this is bound to have its share of hazards. But in Britney's world, as soon as a crisis occurs, it's over within minutes. And all live happily ever after.
Each of the girls might find Ben oh so cute, but only Lucy -- quelle surprise -- discovers his sensitive side. He turns out to be an aspiring musician that writes a song from one of Lucy's poems.
It's so beautiful, that Lucy and Ben fall in love and, er, do not-so-innocent things.
Near the end, Kit and Mimi experience their own personal dramas, but let's face it, they're basically props to give Spears some acting credibility. No one does that better than Aykroyd, who's shockingly hit an all-time acting nadir that makes My Stepmother Is An Alien look like an overlooked Oscar gem.
Though by no means one of those extended music videos Spears could've orchestrated, Crossroads can't escape its fluffy, Disney-like premise of fulfilling dreams, with Spears merely portraying an extension of her real-life image: Not a novice, not yet a pro.
She might cut it as a singer, though.
(More on: Crossroads).
(This film is rated PG)
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