The Crossing Guard (1995)
Country: US
Technical: col 111m
Director: Sean Penn
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Anjelica Huston, David Morse
Synopsis:
A bereaved father has awaited the day when the drink-driver who ran down his daughter gets out of prison, so that he can kill him and gain closure.
Review:
Self-lacerating drama focusing on the effects of guilt and grief. Fred has left his wife and family, has never visited the grave, and spends his nights drinking in strip clubs and sleeping with go-go dancers. John, on the other hand, returns to his Mom and Dad's home, lives cleanly in his trailer, attempts to start a relationship with a woman, and visits the grave with flowers. One has entombed himself with his grief and anger, while the other reaches out through his guilt. It is an impressive debut effort for the writer-director, even if at times it slips into naïveté or sentimentality. The cast does a fantastic job, particularly Nicholson, and Penn used him again in the similarly themed The Pledge. The film gets its title from a dream the protagonist has, in which the roles are reversed, and the driver is a lollipop man.
Country: US
Technical: col 111m
Director: Sean Penn
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Anjelica Huston, David Morse
Synopsis:
A bereaved father has awaited the day when the drink-driver who ran down his daughter gets out of prison, so that he can kill him and gain closure.
Review:
Self-lacerating drama focusing on the effects of guilt and grief. Fred has left his wife and family, has never visited the grave, and spends his nights drinking in strip clubs and sleeping with go-go dancers. John, on the other hand, returns to his Mom and Dad's home, lives cleanly in his trailer, attempts to start a relationship with a woman, and visits the grave with flowers. One has entombed himself with his grief and anger, while the other reaches out through his guilt. It is an impressive debut effort for the writer-director, even if at times it slips into naïveté or sentimentality. The cast does a fantastic job, particularly Nicholson, and Penn used him again in the similarly themed The Pledge. The film gets its title from a dream the protagonist has, in which the roles are reversed, and the driver is a lollipop man.
Country: US
Technical: col 111m
Director: Sean Penn
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Anjelica Huston, David Morse
Synopsis:
A bereaved father has awaited the day when the drink-driver who ran down his daughter gets out of prison, so that he can kill him and gain closure.
Review:
Self-lacerating drama focusing on the effects of guilt and grief. Fred has left his wife and family, has never visited the grave, and spends his nights drinking in strip clubs and sleeping with go-go dancers. John, on the other hand, returns to his Mom and Dad's home, lives cleanly in his trailer, attempts to start a relationship with a woman, and visits the grave with flowers. One has entombed himself with his grief and anger, while the other reaches out through his guilt. It is an impressive debut effort for the writer-director, even if at times it slips into naïveté or sentimentality. The cast does a fantastic job, particularly Nicholson, and Penn used him again in the similarly themed The Pledge. The film gets its title from a dream the protagonist has, in which the roles are reversed, and the driver is a lollipop man.