Crossroads (1986)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Walter Hill

Writer:

John Fusco (written by)

Release Date:

14 March 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

'The Kid' keeps the legend alive....

Plot:

Ralph Macchio is Lightning Boy. A kid who can make a slide guitar sing. Blind Dog is an old pro who knows it. Together, they're headed to a place where deals are made. And legends are born.

Plot Keywords:

Guitar | Mississippi | Song | Legend | Deal With The Devil

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Ralph Macchio	...	Eugene Martone
Joe Seneca	...	Willie Brown
Jami Gertz	...	Frances
Joe Morton	...	Scratch's Assistant
Robert Judd	...	Scratch
Steve Vai	...	Jack Butler
Dennis Lipscomb	...	Lloyd
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Bartender
John Hancock	...	Sheriff Tilford
Allan Arbus	...	Dr. Santis
Gretchen Palmer	...	Beautiful Girl / Dancer
Al Fann	...	Pawnbroker
Wally Taylor	...	O.Z
Tim Russ	...	Robert Johnson
Tex Donaldson	...	John McGraw

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (partial) | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:15 | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:11 | Sweden:11 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

After the guitar dual, Eugene plays "Big Bad Moon" by Joe Satriani. FALSE. The riff is similar to 'Big Bad Moon' but the Satriani piece wasn't written and recorded until 1989, the movie came out in 1986!

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Eugene is walking up to the stage for the guitar duel at the end, we hear the sound of hard-soled shoes on the wooden floor. But in wide shots we see that he is wearing the same Nike tennis shoes that he's had on for the whole movie.

Quotes:

Willie Brown: The blues ain't nothin' but a good man feelin' bad, thinkin' 'bout the woman he once was with.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Meat Loaf: Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

WILLIE BROWN BLUES

Why Is This Movie Forgotten?

This is a really, really good movie and I don't understand why no one ever mentions it or why it is never on cable.

It has everything that I love in a movie: good story, great characters well acted, fine comedy and powerful touching drama. Ralph Macchio is a brilliant young guitar student, Eugene Martone, at Julliard (or some other equally good music school) who does not want to play Mozart. He wants to play guitar like his idol, a long dead blues guitar legend. In search of his dreams, he breaks an elderly black blues player out of a prison nursing home.

The two of them go on an odyssey to the Mississippi Delta in quest of memories and dreams. As in any odyssey, they meet a variety of fascinating and/or dangerous characters along the way. Eugene must also overcome the obstacles and tests that all those who quest must face - until it is time to face the ultimate test against the greatest blues guitarist in the Delta.

I enjoy music, but my knowledge is superficial. I probably wouldn't know a good guitar riff from a raft, but even I could recognize awesome guitar work in the final sequence of Crossroads.

So, if you like good movies and good acting and great guitar music, please check out Crossroads. If enough of us spread the word, it may no longer be a forgotten classic.