The Crossing Guard (1995)

Director:

Sean Penn

Writer (WGA):

Sean Penn (written by)

Release Date:

16 November 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Some lives cross, others collide.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Melancholy | Self Pity | Gloomy | Guilt | Urban

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Jack Nicholson	...	Freddy Gale
David Morse	...	John Booth
Anjelica Huston	...	Mary
Robin Wright Penn	...	Jojo (as Robin Wright)
Piper Laurie	...	Helen Booth
Richard Bradford	...	Stuart Booth
Priscilla Barnes	...	Verna
David Baerwald	...	Peter
Robbie Robertson	...	Roger
John Savage	...	Bobby
Kari Wuhrer	...	Mia
Jennifer Leigh Warren	...	Jennifer
Kellita Smith	...	Tanya
Richard C. Sarafian	...	Sunny Ventura (as Richard Sarafian)
Bobby Cooper	...	Coop

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and strong language.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Singapore:M18 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Brazil:14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Long Beach Harbor, Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

The movie concludes with a dedication to "My friend, Charles Bukowski. I miss you, S.P." 'Sean Penn' was a close friend of the writer and poet.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Freddy gives John Booth three more days he marks it on the calendar in red and the square he draws is not even, later when he crosses the day in the calendar the square drawn is perfect.

Quotes:

[After being released from prison.]
John Booth: Freedom is overrated.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Bad Boys of Saturday Night Live (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Emily

A powerful and compelling story, filmed well and with some great performances.

A powerful and compelling story, filmed well and with some great performances.

Sean Penn seems to have managed to level the actors here, with David Morse, Anjelica Huston and Jack Nicholson putting in great performances and none of them stealing the scenes from the other. I found this very surprising as I expected Nicholson to flood the screen, as he so often does with such little difficulty.

However, the emotion between Huston and Nicholson in the latter half of the film during the coffee shop scene is so powerful to watch. Huston is such a wonderful actress, and Nicholson shows some emotional depth that I haven't seen before, or rather, not felt with his performance before.

The story is written and planned extremely well, with tension rising slowly and almost imperceptibly, until the final day. I found myself caught from the opening scenes of the counselling session cut with the drunken, partying Nicholson, right through to the pivotal moments of the main characters lives.

It is a fantastic way to address this subject. To examine it from both sides, and keep each side with its own sympathies and understandings. Cleverly your sympathies and hatred are swapped throughout the story.

I hope there's more to come like this.