WHAT WE LEARNT RE-WATCHING CROSSROADS
She’s not that innocent… OR bad at acting
IMDB gives it a woeful 3.6 out of ten, Rotten Tomatoes awards it a 15 per cent on the tomatometer, and critics dismiss it as “a clichéd and silly pop star vanity project”. But we say no! We at heat declare
Crossroads to be one of the single greatest things to come out of the early noughties. The teen
‘MY HEART WAS INTO THIS FILM’
romcom follows former best friends Lucy, Kit and Mimi – along with a token hot guy they don’t really know called Ben – as they embark on a road trip to LA, each with their own life-changing mission. As the 2002 cinematic masterpiece – which grossed more than $60 million worldwide – celebrates its 20th anniversary, we revisit it to prove once and for all that Crossroads was not only Britney Spears’ greatest triumph, but also deserves worldwide redemption. Or, at the very least, we can all agree it’s better than Mariah Carey’s Glitter, right?
It’s packed with A-listers
With Britney at the helm, stealing all the attention, it’s easy to forget what an A-list cast this production featured. Brit’s Crossroads co-stars include Anson Mount as her love interest, Justin Long as her lab partner, Zoe Saldana as her best friend Kit, Taryn Manning from Orange Is The New Black as Mimi, and Brit’s little sis Jamie Lynn Spears as her younger self. You’ve even got a 13-year-old future Oscar-winner Brie Larson as a featured extra! Ghostbusters megastar Dan Aykroyd played Lucy’s overbearing but well-meaning dad, while Sex And The City’s Kim Cattrall was her rejecting mum. It was later revealed how Brit cast the superstar herself, saying, “I’m a really big fan of Sex And The City; I love that show. And I needed someone to play my mom. A lot of people say she resembles me a little bit. We asked her to do it, and she was like, ‘Sure!’” Kim later added, “I thought, ‘Hey, if you’re gonna play somebody’s mom, why not play hers?’”
There were even megastars behind the scenes of Crossroads. Grey’s Anatomy’s Shonda Rhimes wrote the script after Britney approached her with the idea. The singer later explained, “I told [Shonda] what I wanted the movie to be about and she elaborated on it.” It also had some surprisingly starry supporters, including, ahem, Robert De Niro, who actually convinced his friend Anson to join the cast. The now48-year-old Star Trek: Discovery actor revealed how Robert had encouraged him to take the part, calling Britney a “sweet girl” and even running lines with him. Is it wrong that we really hope they rehearsed the snogging scenes together?
Britney could act
OK, we will concede she was pretty wooden in How I Met Your Mother, but back in 2002, the newly minted pop star was genuinely brilliant in her role as Lucy, a shy, nerdy kid looking for the mum who abandoned her at the age of three. Not only was she a solid lead, but co-stars rushed to praise the then-20 year old for her work ethic and dedication. Dan Aykroyd gushed, “She’s got the essence of greatness. She can really act.” Justin Long complimented, “She could not have been more down to earth.
She’s the sweetest girl. After ten minutes, I forgot she was a big pop star.” Kim Cattrall described Britney as, “So dynamic and wonderful,” adding, “It takes a lot of courage because she could just sit back and say, ‘Hey, I’m a music person, and that’s what I do.’ But she’s challenging it, and that’s wonderful.”
Taryn also praised the singer, recently revealing, “We had an amazing time on Crossroads. We spent months in the car that we took ‘cross country’, sharing stories, joking, laughing – and had a friendship for years, especially while filming… Nothing but love for Brit!” The pop legend also came up with the idea for the film herself, later explaining, “It was my little project. When you do a movie, I think you have to be really passionate about it. I was having a lot of offers, but this is something my heart was into.”
It’s a totally brilliant story
Dodgeball star Justin described the plot as, “Like a road-trip buddy movie for girls.” While Britney added that it was a “journey that the three of us best friends take, finding ourselves and what we want out of life and getting our friendship back. Friends are all you have at the end of the day”.
But the film wasn’t just about reconnecting with old BFFS – or, indeed, singing Shania Twain at the top of your lungs on the open road – it dealt with some seriously dark subjects, too. During their road trip, the group explore everything from teen pregnancy, fat shaming, adoption, date rape, miscarriage, parental abandonment and abuse. But it’s the moments of light relief that really make the movie shine – the scene where Lucy performs in a bar with her mates, and another when she tries to lose her V-plates with her geeky lab partner. Then there’s the brilliant drunk night with her gal pals in a hotel room – not to mention the following day’s hangover.
Oh, and if you needed any more persuading, we have this movie to thank for Britney’s epic banger I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman, which, yes, Britney does perform in full, along with a bunch of other hits. So, 20 years later, we simply have one request for Brit the thesp: Gimme More. ■