The Crossing Guard (1995, Sean Penn)

"Freddie Gale is a seedy jeweler who has sworn to kill the drunk driver who killed his little girl"

I rented this one thinking that it would some intense and crazy stuff. Sean Penn directing a revenge tale with Jack Nicholson in the main role? This must be awesome! Right?

WRONG.

Another thing that made me believe that this one might be worth my time was that I am a big fan of Penns other film starring Jack Nicholson, The Pledge, which touched on the same aspect of revenge and told a unique and brutal tale which I loved and feel that is an underrated gem of a film.

Now this one is just bad. No, its horrible. The film could have told a great revenge tale and it could have showcased some powerhouse performances but it doesn't. I find this to be so odd because while watching the film I kept asking myself "It cant be that hard to tell a revenge tale, can it?" I dont think it is.

You have a man. Man loses someone close to him. Man has to kill the man responsible. That simple. Yet in The Crossing Guard everything collapses in a matter of minutes. The direction is extremely bad. We get a slow motion or shutter effect every other minute meanwhile some blues plays in the background. I take it that this sis supposed to be setting a dark mood but it doesn't,

On top of the lazy and cliched direction we also just get some really bad scenes that don't make much sense at all and seem ridiculous. For example the revenge is put into motion in the first 30 minutes (....) but it doesn't pay off because Jack Nicholson's character forgets to put bullets in his gun. Yes, a man who has been plotting his revenge for years forgets to put bullets in his gun. If this wasn't enough when he fails to shoot the man he wants to kill they sit down and have a talk about the nature of revenge. Once again I take it that this is supposed to be poetic but it feels fake, pretentious, and as deep as a puddle.

I wish I could go on and on about how bad this movie and how it is the worst Nicholson film I have ever seen but I am not.

This is just a bad film.

- D