Crossover

My kids and I enjoyed this dreadful exercise in predictability and bad acting for all the wrong reasons: We playfully wagered on what actors would say next (and I use that word "actors" very loosely). It's full of clichés of all kinds. We would rewind and laugh at the scenes containing Eva Pigford's unbelievably horrid acting (please, for God's sake, stick to simply being a model!). We'd pretend to be menaced and afraid by appearances of that definitive "hood" slick guy, aka Wayne Brady ("New Jack City's" Nino Brown has got nothing on him!!!). And we were amused at how surprisingly weak the basketball scenes were. The on-the-court scenes contained lots of edits and cut-aways that marked staged shots. And for a movie about b'ball, the court scenes were extremely minimal and unexciting. On a serious note, please observe this theory of mine if you rent this film (for God's sake don't buy it): Sometimes, being surrounded by bad actors and faced with a bad script can even make a good actor bad. Case in point, Anthony Mackie. He's clearly got skills, but he had no business being in this foul of a film! This movie surely falls under the "So bad it's good" banner. If you rent it expecting anything else, you will surely be disappointed.

First of all, if the reason you are watching this movie is to be thrilled by gunshots, fast cars sweeping by, a masked man parachuting down leaving behind a dust of smoke after a bomb explodes .. Then this is not your cuppa tea .

This is a good, clean movie, with moral lessons that is being told with subtlety, which is good to anyone watching this movie. Lessons on friendship, the priorities in lives, knowing that there will always be people that will treat you right & those that only used you for their own benefit.

The movie is indeed predictable, but only on the fact that the kids will excel in their live. Other than that, the storyline is interesting, with twists & unexpected turns of event . Who'd know that Cruise wasn't that bad after all, & that Nicole isn't what she seems to be .

Yeah, there are things that could be better, i.e Wayne Brady would have to act with more class to be a bookie instead of looking like a blur guy driving around to get the betting money. But it is quite an act, considering the fact that he's always been linked to that comedy show (Wayne Brady show) that it'll be hard to try a different genre of acting. Nice try, however.

I like the music, the slow mo shots when trying to dunk the ball, the smooth ways of faking the moves, wanting to do trick the opponents. It's cool ! With that being said, I recommend this movie to be watched. It is good clean movie, with a subtle way to send the moral message to the audience.

someone asked? Hmm... Where should I start? Well, let's start with the blueprint: screenplay.

The dialogue was on-the-nose, predictable babbling about nothing. The jokes were even worse. The characters were less than one dimensional while accomplishing all sorts of inconsistencies, which attributed to outrageous behavior. I mean, at one point, the main character was just having a nervous breakdown for absolutely nothing, for the sake of drama. The plot was as believable as Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer. And even with the absurd plot, the writing failed to be original at all levels. I mean, we saw the same subplots done before in way more superior films like "White Men Can't Jump".

The directing was Amateur night at the Apollo. He did nothing with the camera or the blocking of the actors to make me believe he has an ounce of talent in his body. And the shots were so flat and uninteresting. I hope they shot the movie on HD. I'd hate to think one can make film stock look so bad.

The acting was the worst. Inappropriate and unjustified outbursts of anger, straight line readings off the page and so much wooden actions/reactions that it started to look like a smörgåsbord for termites.

And the basketball playing was terrible, even from the actors who are known for basketball, like Hot Sauce. They made a big mistake trying to pass off Anthony Mackie as some ballplayer. He looked uncomfortable with the basketball every time he touched it. I had a hard time watching him.

Uneventful montages. Glossy cinematography looking like someone's home VHS camera. Lame jokes. Inept editing.

You know when you have watched a bad film? When you're a passionate cinephile and after watching the film, it was so bad, you're left with a temporary bad taste in your mouth for movie making since the beginning of time. This film is that bad.

For all who have cried for quality urban film-making free from gangsta, thuggin, and drug related themes…keep looking.

Detroit is a city rich in culture, history, ethnicity and empowerment but in recent years has developed an unfortunate reputation that upsets many natives. Those with a voice, the politicians, the rappers, even the filmmakers try desperately to reverse that negative image much to their credit. Writer and Director Preston Whitmore II, a loyal patriot indeed, attempts an urban tale about street ball, dreams fulfilled, and dreams deferred. It seemed like every few minutes there was a needless montage of city landmarks that were not part of the storyline. A gimmick that seemed patronizing at best, insulting at worst. I too love my city and I understand patriotic sympathies. However, they simply have no place on the celluloid. If a filmmaker wants to show the good of the city make a good movie! But that was just part of my problem with Crossover. It wasn't dramatic enough to be taken seriously and not funny enough to be a comedy. The funniest thing in the movie was the main character Tech (Mackie) spending half the movie studying for his GED. The plot was mediocre and the acting simply ghastly. Wayne Brady (who said he could be a leading man?) has to prove he's black to all his critics and quite unconvincingly portrays Vaughn, part businessman, part thug who has more than a legitimate interest in street ball. The cookie monster is a scarier underworld figure. Wesley Jonathan who was absolutely priceless in Rollbounce was less than thrilling-- almost boring. And Eva Pigford's play acting of the femme fatal just ruined a character that might have been interesting.

Crossover (or Crapover as I was calling it by the end) was a film that probably looked good on paper but lost its focus somewhere between the pitch and the production. I often advise urban screenwriters to beware of this potential peril. It's a death sentence to the film, but more importantly it is another unwanted blemish on the genre of film that is blemished enough.

Fantastic movie? Fantastic? Are you kidding me? This "fantastic" movie has an average rating of 1.1, with 1 being the lowest rating on IMDb after over 1,200 votes. Fantastic? Fantastic trash, maybe.

The acting was bush league, and the plot was lame. All this is is just more of this same old tired and boring urban-up-and-comer-defeat-the-odds-make-a-life-from-nothing worship garbage.

I can't believe I wasted my time with this movie.

Voters rated "Gigli" higher than this, which should give you an idea of exactly how bad this movie is.