DVD Review: Crossroads

08/10/04

Children of the 1980s remember several movie icons, from a BVD-clad Tom Cruise to a fast-dancing Kevin Bacon to a leg-swept Ralph Macchio. Macchio is best remembered for his role as Daniel LaRusso, the prot駩 of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), and in fact, the Karate Kid franchise made ?Daniel? a household name. But Macchio himself suffered from the ?Mark Hammill? syndrome: he could never really escape such a defining role. Just two years and three movies after the original Karate Kid, though, Macchio turned in a dramatically different performance as Eugene Martone, a guitar-playing teenager in the movie Crossroads. Crossroads, which recently released on DVD, tells the coming of age story of a prodigy (Macchio) who wants desperately to become the next blues star yet can?t truly do so until he learns what the ?blues? is all about. To help Eugene in his spiritual journey, Willie Brown, played by Joe Seneca, asks Eugene to help him with a more-literal journey: mastermind Willie?s escape from a New York hospital so he can find his way back to the Mississippi, where he made a deal with the devil years ago. The story follows a somewhat predictable path, with Eugene meeting, falling for and eventually losing a downtrodden young lady and having more than an occasional generational conflict with the senior Willie. It?s these conflicts that draw attention to Eugene?s need to experience some growing pains before he can truly sing the blues, and in fact, these lessons are exactly what Willie hopes Eugene will learn. But it?s the actual learning of those lessons that is Crossroads? most significant drawback. That?s because in each scene, Macchio repeatedly over-delivers, appearing too eager, too confident and too ?green.? Had this movie been another Karate Kid, filled with equally young actors and plenty of action, Macchio?s performance would have been the best of the bunch. But with the incredible talents of Seneca alongside him, Macchio?s youth is glaring. Seneca truly lives and breathes his character, a cynical old man whose sole goal is to challenge the devil directly. There?s no denying that Seneca is Willie Brown, and it?s difficult to imagine anyone else playing the role. Eugene, on the other hand, could have been played by any 1980s actor and effected just the same feelings as Macchio. If Macchio delivers in one aspect, though, it?s his guitar playing. This movie, with its focus on the blues and the requisite superstitions, would have been nothing without its soulful soundtrack, and Crossroads? DVD presentation includes full Dolby Digital support for every incredible note. Crossroads presents the best blues soundtrack in recent memory, and its climactic conclusion is a sheer joy to listen to with a fully equipped home theater system. Hat?s off to Paramount for capturing the soundtrack as capably as they did; this is one movie where the audio track truly makes the DVD shine. As a re-release of a mid-1980s film, Crossroads on DVD has no bonus features or extras; it?s the original film as it was meant to be presented. No commentary track, no ?making of? featurette, no documentary about the blues. It would have been nice if Crossroads included a musical feature similar to The Fighting Temptations DVD, which has a feature allowing viewers to watch just the musical segments, but for a budget DVD, the movie is just fine as it is. Crossroads isn?t going to wow people with its production values, nor will it impress with its story or main character?s acting. Where it does deliver is where it?s meant to: in its soundtrack and the acting of its main character?s ?instructor,? Willie. If you missed Crossroads in the mid-1980s, or if you?ve ever wanted to see Ralph Macchio?s acting abilities outside the dojo, give Crossroads a rent. It may not be worth a full purchase, but the soundtrack alone is worth the price of a rental.
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