I cannot select any of these options, as
Crossroads is neither good or bad.
It's the bland scoop of vanilla ice cream that you fully expected Britney's team to concoct. Of course she plays the virginal princess. Of course her character is without any sort of flaw.
Crossroads is little more than an extension of the persona they wanted Britney to project during her bubblegum exisistence. Britney pulls it off; after all, she was was very convincing in her early career as the squeaky-clean *wink wink*, though slightly coquettish, ingenue. The story was always going to be a secondary consideration. The focus of this movie is superstar Britney, and in that sense it was perfectly tailored to suit the preferences of her target audience, who, for example, could have cared less about
that one chick and her potentially interesting teenage pregnancy side-plot. And the thing is, had they fleshed out the story, attempted to tackle some difficult issues and given any of these characters a bit of heart,
Crossroads still would have been subjected to critical lambasting. If it wasn't an issue of this film being nothing more than a vapid, meaningless, vehicle for the principle star, they would have made it an issue of the principle star failing to deliver a convincing performance in a film that otherwise might have had some substance (as much substance as these self-discovery/road trip flicks can have, that is). As it stands, I'm happy that Britney was given a script of fluffy drivel. When the writing only calls for her character to barely skim the surface of genuine emotion, it becomes more difficult for reviewers to offer a genuine criticism of her performance. She's doing all that's required of her given the nature of the script, right?
Quote:
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Though far from a compelling screen presence, Ms. Spears is unaffectedly likable, and in the one scene that requires her to cry, the tears seem to flow naturally.
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Or in other words...
SUCCESS!
In terms of pop stars dabbling in film, I think it easily bests Mariah's first effort, and I think it beats the work of Jessica Simpson in her string of forgettable comedies.
Crossroads is somewhere on par, or close to, one of Mandy Moore's (she's not quite a popstar, not quite an actress) early films, which are also neither good or bad.
Crossroads was a fun experiment, but it just cemented the fact that Britney is not a dramatic female lead. I don't think her team would he silly enough to manufacture another
Crossroads for her to appear in, nor do I think she would agree to appear in anything besides a comedy (if she would ever even consider making another film, that is). She's most at home in these one-off, over-the-top, cameo roles she does for television shows like
Will & Grace. Truth be told, she's actually pretty damn funny. Her timing is good and her delivery is pretty much spot-on cause there's not really a limitation to how outrageous her characters can be in these sort of roles. Put her on a sketch comedy show. Give her a supporting film role as the goofy sidekick, with the guidance that she reign in some of the hilarity in order to make things slightly more believable. That's the sort of acting I'd love to see Britney do.
