| |
 |  | Get Showtimes... |
Review #236 of 365
Film: Crossover (2006) [PG-13] 95 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $08.00
Where Viewed: Douglas Cinemas The Grand, Lincoln, NE
When 1st Seen: 4 September 2006
Time: 2:40 p.m.
Directed by: Preston A. Whitmore II Written by: Preston A. Whitmore II
Featured Cast / Where I Remember Him/Her From:
Wayne Brady (Roll Bounce) • Wesley Jonathan (Roll Bounce) • Anthony Mackie (Freedomland) • Little JJ (Yours, Mine, & Ours) • Alecia Jai Fears (MVP) • Eva Pigford ("America's Top Model"-3rd Season-Winner)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
If I were going to sit down and write a screenplay for the purpose of mentoring to young black men in the USA, I probably couldn't have done a better job than Preston A. Whitmore II's Crossover. It's as if he started with a laundry list of good habits, bad habits, potential threats, and positive role models, and then figured out a way to weave all of these into his story. Unlike the enormous advertising promotions would have you believe, the film does not focus on an underground street basketball league. Instead, the film actually focuses on the lives of two young men street names Tech (Anthony Mackie) and Cruise (Wesley Johnathan). Cruise is the real deal UCLA-bound basketball player who lives with his grandmother who adores him. Tech is the good but not great-enough basketball player who plays 'semi-professional' street ball for an underground league owned and operated by former big-time California sports agent Vaughn (Wayne Brady). For taking the fall for him and serving time, Cruise agrees to play in one street ball game with Tech, his long-time best friend, risking his NCAA eligibility and breaking his grandmother's heart. After losing the game, Cruise tries to cheer Tech up with an invitation to accompany him on his official visit to UCLA to see the school and where he'll be playing. Between then and the time of departure for the trip both boys become involved with some young women, Tech with Eboni (Alecia Fears) and Cruise with Vanessa (Eva Pigford). In the heat of the moment, Cruise invited Vanessa to California forcing him to renege on his offer to take Tech. Tech rebounds and decides to earn the money to take Eboni so the two couples can go together. Tech is bothered though because he has been promised to star in a television commercial by a talent agent. To earn the money, Tech does what he "does best" and that is take other people's money in pick up games with his other homey, Up (Little JJ) pretending to be a little nerd with glasses whose never touched a ball before. Meanwhile, Vaugh smells opportunity in Cruise, and tries to convince him to skip college and go straight to the pros. Cruise denies his overtures as he is determined to go to college on UCLA's dime and then on to medical school. When they finally get to California, all sorts of bad things start to happen, and the life lessons start to pile up.
"…the film itself represents a coming-of-age story for everyone involved… No one expects you to get everything perfect the first time around."
If I honestly believed that a single, young, African American male who sees this film would take the lessons to heart, I would advocate for it more strongly. Unfortunately, because the plot is so clearly contrived and, regrettably, the young women so two-dimensional and conniving (especially Vanessa who turns out to be cut from soap opera super witch cloth), doing so would be giving in a bit too much to the moral of the story vs. the story as a whole, the acting, the directing, and all of the other qualities required to make a truly impacting film. There is no way that the young women needed to be depicted in this fashion and left to serve as the root of all evil in the young men's lives. Vanessa was written as a money-grubbing liar in the relationships strictly for money. Meanwhile, while the boys learn that basketball is not the answer to their dreams vs. college, the methods used to bring this point home, including the necessitation of Tech gambling his life's savings on his own basketball game to earn enough money to pay for the hospital bills of his friend (I'm being intentionally vague here to not give away too much more about the plot than I already have), were a shade off point. I appreciate wholeheartedly what Mr. Whitmore was trying to do. I both admire him for trying and hope he will continue to hone his craft. No one can blame him for trying. Certainly more people and Hollywood, in general, need to produce stories and films directed at providing meaningful, quality stories for every demographic. The young acting talent present in the film will be turning heads on screens for years to come—most have already filmed major project to be released in the coming year. If anything, the film itself represents a coming-of-age story for everyone involved in the cast and crew. No one expects you to get everything perfect the first time around. Learn from this one and grow to the next.
Back to Top | W.I.P. Scale™ | Most Recently Reviewed Films | Films of 2005 | Films of 2006
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Crossover (2006) Cast Members
Wayne Brady • Wesley Jonathan • Anthony Mackie
Little JJ • Alecia Fears • Eva Pigford
Crossover (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
If I were going to write a screenplay for the purpose of mentoring young black men in the USA, I couldn't have done a better job than Preston A. Whitmore II's Crossover. It's as if he started with a list of good / bad habits, potential threats, and positive role models, and then spun them into a story. Unlike the advertisements indicate, the film focuses less on an underground street basketball league that it centers on the lives of two young men with names of Tech (Anthony Mackie) and Cruise (Wesley Johnathan). Unfortunately, because the plot is so clearly contrived and, regrettably, the young female characters so two-dimensional and conniving, it becomes too difficult to advocate for this movie. Eventually, it represents a coming-of-age story for everyone involved in the cast and crew more so than the characters on screen. They will learn from this and grow to the next.
No comments:
Post a Comment