The Crossing Guard

''The Crossing Guard'' is a 1995 American independent drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Sean Penn. The film stars Jack Nicholson, David Morse, Robin Wright and Anjelica Huston. It tells the story of Freddy Gale, a man who has been tormented for more than five years by his daughter's death in a car accident. When he finds out that the man who was responsible for the death is being released from prison, he decides to seek vengeance.

The film was released on November 16, 1995, and received generally positive reviews from critics.

This was the last film scored by Jack Nitzsche.

Plot

Jewelry store proprietor Freddy Gale (Jack Nicholson) has been tormented for the five years following the death of his daughter Emily. Once a devoted husband and father, he is now an alcoholic who spends his nights in strip clubs, sleeping with strippers. When John Booth ( David Morse), the drunk driver who killed his daughter, is released from prison, Freddy visits his ex-wife Mary (Anjelica Huston) and reveals to her that he is going to kill Booth. She begs him not to and an altercation results, with Mary's husband (Robbie Robertson) confronting Freddy. The two men briefly fight and Freddy leaves.

Booth resides in a trailer outside his parents' house. He merely desires to resume his life outside of prison, although he is haunted and remorseful for killing Emily. One night, Freddy arrives at the Booth residence, armed with a pistol. He clumsily breaks into the trailer and tries to shoot, but he forgot to load a magazine. John calmly explains he won't call the police and will let Freddy kill him, but he asks for some time to savor his freedom. Freddy gives John three days to live.

John tries to live his life as best as he can before the third day arrives. He meets an artist named JoJo ( Robin Wright) at a friend's party. They have a brief romance before she realizes that he cannot let go of the mistake he made. He reveals to her that when he hit Emily, he came to her side as she was dying and Emily apologized to him for "not having looked both ways." John goes to Emily's grave and leaves flowers, but he leaves when he sees Mary there.

On the third day, Freddy phones Mary and breaks down in tears as he tells her of a terrible nightmare he had. In the nightmare, he is driving by his daughter's school and stops at a crosswalk where children (including a living Emily) wait. He sees that John Booth is the crossing guard. Freddy then sees himself run over all of the children, even Emily. Freddy and Mary meet at a diner, and Mary tells him that he is beyond her help; Freddy becomes enraged and curses her. After Mary leaves, Freddy gets drunk and starts to drive to John's house. John waits in his trailer. A police officer stops Freddy and arrests him for drunk driving. Before the police can take him in, however, Freddy grabs his pistol and runs away. He breaks into a home and hides in a little girl's room. The girl guides the police away, and Freddy thanks her and leaves.

Freddy arrives at John's trailer and waits before he enters. John abruptly jumps from a corner with a rifle in hand. Freddy tells him since he is on the run, on his property, and armed, John should be able to get away with killing him. There is a standoff as they point guns at each other. However, John drops his rifle and runs away. Freddy follows him. After a lengthy chase across the city, Freddy catches John climbing a fence and fires at him. John is only superficially wounded and continues running. Freddy continues his pursuit until he realizes that John has led him to the graveyard where Emily is buried. John talks silently to the grave and finally says, "Your daddy's coming". Freddy hands John his pistol and cries over the grave, apologizing to his daughter. John takes Freddy's hand as the sun rises.

Cast

* Jack Nicholson as Freddy Gale
* David Morse as John Booth
* Anjelica Huston as Mary
* Robin Wright Penn as Jojo
* Piper Laurie as Helen Booth
* Richard Bradford as Stuart Booth
* Priscilla Barnes as Verna
* David Baerwald as Peter
* Robbie Robertson as Roger, Mary's husband
* John Savage as Bobby
* Kellita Smith as Tanya
* Kari Wuhrer as Mia
* Richard Sarafian as Sunny Ventura
* Joe Viterelli as Joe
* Eileen Ryan as Disgruntled Store Customer

Reception

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews with the review tallying website Rotten Tomatoes reporting a score of 76% based on 29 reviews.

Roger Ebert found the midnight conversation in a diner between Freddy and Mary, where they talk over their life together, as having an "eerie resonance" to the actors real-life past relationship. The acting overall is "wonderful" but Nicholson's presence is "too commanding on the screen to be squeezed inside Freddy," Ebert wrote. Nonetheless, with this film and '' The Indian Runner'', he asserts that Sean Penn proves he's a "genuine director."

Box office

Despite the positive critical reception, the film grossed only $868,979 in the United States and Canada. It grossed $7 million worldwide, against a budget of $9 million.

Soundtrack

* "Missing" written and performed by Bruce Springsteen
* "Room At The Top" performed by  Adam Ant; written by Ant, André Cymone and Marco Pirroni
* "Hopping To Health" written and performed by Sophia L. Cassidy
* "Any Time, Any Place, Any Where" written and performed by  Hadda Brooks
* "King's Highway" written and performed by  Joe Henry
* "Whatta Man" performed by Salt-N-Pepa, written by  Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor,  Cheryl "Salt" James and  Dave Crawford
* "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove" performed by  Dead Can Dance, written by  Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry
* "Born A Cowboy" written and performed by  David Baerwald
* "Unspoken" written and performed by Baerwald
* "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl" performed by Brooks, written by Nina Simone
* " Herida de Amor (Love Hurts)" performed by Yndio, written by  Boudleaux Bryant
* "Emily" written and performed by  Jewel
* "Freddy and Mia" written and performed by Kari Wuhrer
* " Good Ship Lollipop" performed by Shirley Temple, written by  Richard A. Whiting and Sidney Clare

Awards

Anjelica Huston's performance in the film was praised and she received nominations for Best Supporting Actress from the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). She lost out on the Golden Globe to Mira Sorvino for ''Mighty Aphrodite'' and the SAG award to Kate Winslet for ''Sense and Sensibility''.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crossing Guard, The
1995 films
1995 thriller films
American crime drama films
American independent films
1995 independent films
Films scored by Jack Nitzsche
Films directed by Sean Penn
Films set in Los Angeles
American films about revenge
Films about grief
Films about atonement
Miramax films
1990s English-language films
1990s American films
English-language independent films
English-language thriller films