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Crossing Guard, The

EMAILPRINTMiramax Films

Crossing Guard, The reviews
46
10.0 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 18 critic reviews
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Based on 1 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Sean Penn

Directed by: Sean Penn

Release Date:
Theatrical: November 16, 1995
DVD: July 3, 2001

Running Time: 111 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for sexuality and strong language

Starring Jack Nicholson, David Morse, Anjelica Huston, Robin Wright Penn, Piper Laurie, Richard Bradford, Priscilla Barnes, and David Baerwald

The Crossing Guard is a suspenseful action thriller about one man's unquenchable thirst for revenge. For six agonizing years, Freddy Gale(Nicholson) has waited for John Booth(Morse), the man jailed for a crime that destroyed Freddy's life. Now, Booth is out of prison and Freddy is giving him three days before he returns to even the score. (BV Entertainment)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

But Mr. Penn mostly keeps a tight, impassioned grip on this material, preventing it from wandering too far afield. The influence of John Cassavetes is again clear in the characters' emotional sparring, which has energy and heart.

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80

Washington Post Hal Hinson

The current of bereavement never flags even when the dramatic flood becomes stagnant. In every scene, Penn seems to know precisely where the nugget of feeling is hidden, and he doesn't let up until its uncovered.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

Some scenes ramble and go on too long, dialogue occasionally turns awkward and adolescent, and the film threatens to collapse from its own unchecked anger.

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75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston give mature performances as the bereaved parents, and David Morse brings an offbeat touch to the basically decent man who traumatized their lives.

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75

TV Guide Staff(not credited)

His emphasis on acting is welcome at a time when shallow, smirkingly self-referential performances threaten to become the Hollywood norm, but the film's slack pacing and narrative indiscipline undermine its intensity.

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67

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The Crossing Guard is a work of talent and, on occasion, raw passion, but it's also a willed exercise in purgative alienation (imagine "Death Wish" remade by Michelangelo Antonioni).

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63

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The problem with The Crossing Guard is not the premise or core theme, but the manner in which director Sean Penn breathes life into the story. This film is horribly unfocused.

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63

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

What is good about this film is very good, but there are too many side trips, in both the plot and the emotions, for the film to draw us in fully.

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50

San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

So while at times, Penn's film is moving and insightful about the way the heart survives tragedy, at other times it seems to have been made by a gifted schizophrenic who thinks that weird behavior is perfectly normal.

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50

The New Yorker Bruce Diones

But ultimately all that melancholy stifles the characters.

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50

USA Today Mike Clark

The movie is repetitious in some ways and superficial in others. But though Penn doesn't always seem to know where he's going, his movie doesn't altogether miss its destination. [15 Nov 1995, Pg.05.D]

40

Empire Angie Errigo

Although there are some great moments (one for Nicholson recalling the toast scene of "Five Easy Pieces"), Penn's intentions lose their way.

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40

Variety David Rooney

Much of the film plays awkwardly, its tone veering undecidedly between volatile drama and contemplative psychological study.

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40

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

The Crossing Guard, Penn's second film behind the camera, is a troubling, troublesome movie whose makeshift structure cannot contain the powerful flood of passions that he and his cast have poured into it.

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38

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

The result is a curious mix - a picture that simultaneously seems meanderingly loose, affording the cast plenty of performing space, and suffocatingly tight, choking off the audience from any interpretive engagement.

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30

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Penn, who also wrote the script, burdens the story with so many self-indulgent side developments that he loses emotional drive and Freddy's desperate obsession gets lost in the shuffle.

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20

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

David Morse, who plays the driver, gives a relatively sharp and understated performance -- for me the only bearable thing in the movie.

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10

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Penn's film is very slow, sententious, ill-judged about the tensions he wants in long scenes. [18 Dec 1995, Pg.28]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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