Mississippi Adventure

* Minor Spoilers *

Eugene Martone, the 'Lightening Boy' (Ralph Macchio, an actor who presently 'disappeared' from the big screen) is a lover of blues. He studies guitar in Julliard, but he indeed is looking for the thirtieth unknown song of Roberto Johnson. One day, he meets Willie Brown, the 'Blind Dog Fulton' (Joe Seneca) in an old folk's home and is convinced that he possess the lost song. Eugene helps Willie to escape the asylum and goes with him to Mississippi. They can just afford a bus ticket from New York to half way to Mississippi, so the rest of their journey is hitchhiking. In the way, they meet Frances (Jami Gertz, also vanished from the screen), a girl who left home and wishes to be a dancer in Los Angeles. They three together will pass through many strange adventures and situations. The climax of the movie is the guitar duel between Eugene and Jack Butler (Steve Vai).

This movie is the most wonderful tribute to blues ever made. The cast, direction and soundtrack are perfect. Thank you Walter Hill and John Fusco for such a delightful film. The astonishing music of Ry Cooder is spectacular. If the viewer loves blues like me, will certainly not get tired of watching this movie and listen to the CD with the marvelous soundtrack. In Brazil, this movie has not been released on DVD (only in VHS and the soundtrack on CD). This movie is completely underrated in IMDb. I do not agree with the 6.1 user rating in IMDb. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Encruzilhada" ("Crossroads")

Note: On 08 January 2012, I saw this wonderful film again on an imported DVD.

This movie starts slow and begins moving quickly as we see an outstanding modern version of faust (more like the Devil went down to Georgia). The end is a spectacular show down between Ralph Machio on a classic guitar vs. A rock & roll demon.

Walter Hill is the director of some of my all time favorite movies. His films tend to be more action oriented, rather than character-driven, which is surprising since I normally don't like action films. He tends to establish the characters just enough for you to care about them before throwing them headfirst into the fireworks. Movies like "The Warriors", "48 Hours", "Southern Comfort", and "The Long Riders" all left their mark and set standards for their genre. It's a little strange that he would sign on to do a movie like this, but he somehow pulls it off.

This kid Eugene (Ralph Macchio) is a classical guitar student with an obsession with the blues. Despite the disapproval of his teacher, he longs to be a bluesman just like his heros of the 30s and 40s. When he gets word of a lost song by the late, great Robert Johnson, he hunts down Johnson's still-living harp player, Willie Brown (Joe Seneca). Willie is a cantankerous old man who spends his days rotting away down at the nursing home. It doesn't take the kid long to track down the old man and make a little deal: If he helps the geezer bust out of the old-folks home, then the geezer will in turn, teach the kid the long lost song. You see, they're in New York and the old man has to get home to the delta to settle an old score. Thus, the road trip begins...hobo-style.

To give much more away would be a crime, but the kid and the geezer are well matched and this gives the movie a lot of laughs and LOADS of memorable quotes from the old man. Joe Seneca was a great actor and I believe this was one of his best performances. Ralph Macchio is perfect as the kid and we really do believe that he is obsessed with the blues. Jami Gertz also gives a credible performance as the temporary love interest. She's perfect for the part.

I really can't praise this movie enough. The music alone, is enough to reccommend it (Ry Cooder rocks as always) and if you're into the blues, chances are you've already seen it. If you can find this one, it's well worth a rental. I guarantee that you won't watch it just once. I can't wait for the dvd. 10/10

Here in Australia at the moment we have a series on the Blues and last week they were talking about going down to the Crossroads and making a pact with the devil. All of a sudden I needed to find my old video tape of the movie 'Crossroads', taped from television when I first saw it in 1986. The movie is one of my all time favourites and I can watch it time and time again.

Ralph Macchio plays the role of a young teenager, finding the blues and wanting to be a blues player instead of classical guitarist that he is training for. Joe Seneca plays the role of Willie Brown and he lives that role as though he really is Willie Brown. The music played in the scene at the end where Eugene gets Scratch to tear up the contract for Willie's soul is magic and brings tears to my eyes every time I see it. Maybe there is a place for both blues and classical.

Other than "The Blues Brothers," I can't think of another modern film about the Blues as good as Walter Hill's "Crossroads." In the film, Ralph Macchio plays Eugene, an aspiring classical guitar prodigy at Julliard who is fascinated with the blues. He tracks down Willie Brown, one of the last living blues legends from the 40's, played by Joe Seneca. Eugene thinks Willie has the last song written by (real life) legendary Bluesman Robert Johnson, that was never recorded (the story is loosely tied to the life of Johnson). Eugene believes he can assist Willie is resurrecting the song and giving it to the world. However, Willie has other plans including teaching Eugene the true meaning of Blues music that requires a trip back to Willie's stomping ground on the Delta.

This is Hill's best film. Like "Crossroads", many of his films have interracial lead characters and Hill always gives a unique, honest slant on racism and social differences among these types of relationships (or if its an amicable relationship - the lack thereof). The script may be a little thin for some (Jami Gertz's character is a little weak, and she resorts to overacting too often), but Joe Seneca carries the movie with weathered grace as Eugene's fatigued hero who hopes of correcting his shady past in order to save his future. Ralph Macchio expertly plays a naive, impressionable teenager whose skill and love as a musician ultimately generates his confidence and even bull-headedness: he's a blues guitarist who knows what to play but not how to play it. And who can forget the "cutting heads" showdown at the end of the film? Eugene fights tool-and-nail against master guitarist Steve Vai as Jack Butler. The duel is ABSOLUTELY incredible, and no matter how many times I've seen it, I never get bored.

The tone and pacing of this film is tempered, quiet and casual, with none of its plot twists dipped in melodrama for maximum effect. Willie Brown's description of the South is never fully realized on screen, even it's bleakness is absent of any vivid cinematography, but this is overall a great film. As Willie tells Eugene late in the film, "Blues ain't nothin' but a good man feelin' bad." I love this movie!