The Crossing Guard

The Crossing Guard follows the story of a man named Freddy Gale (Jack Nicholson) who is finding it very hard to come to terms with the death of his daughter who was hit by a car six years earlier. John Booth (David Morse), the man who was responsible is now to be let out of prison, and after an initial failed attempt by Freddy to kill him, he threatens that he will be back in three days time to get his revenge.

The film is written and directed by Sean Penn who I think has created a film that is reflective and personal, which shows the symptoms of grief as being arbitrary; that a person should not be expected to behave in any particular way after the death of a loved one. The film doesn’t just show the pain from Mary, the mother (Angelica Houston) and father’s point of view, but also that of the offender who as the film shows is not a hardened criminal but a man who made a mistake, albeit the worst kind you can make caused by careless drink driving.

Freddy is introduced to us as someone who is not enjoying life despite the fact that he frequents strip-clubs and drinks heavily on a daily basis. His face is stern and unforgiving and slow motion shots, which are used quite liberally, create sensations of a man trapped within time, unable to move on and deal with his grief, who is instead forced to go through the motions one agonising second at a time. He wakes up in the morning to find yet another stripper in his bed but it is clear that any pleasure that was had was purely enjoyed by the lady.

Shortly after, a man is released from prison to be greeted by his parents (Piper Laurie and Richard Bradford). At first this feels like Penn is trying to antagonise the viewer because (if you are aware of the synopsis of the film) we can infer that this is the man that has killed the girl. To see a sensitive remorseful man, who is leaving prison to return to the comfort and loving environment of his parents’ throws you off guard when you are expecting some callous or wicked man of whom is unsympathetic to the harm he has caused. From this moment on it is clear that this isn’t going to be a clear black and white revenge film where the bad criminal is to be justifiably killed by a loving, grieving father. No far from it, in fact, it is often Booth who seems to feel the pain of the girl’s death more than Freddy and at times the viewer maybe be confused as to where their sympathies lay. Freddy chose a path of destruction as we will see, showing no consideration to his now ex-wife and their two existing children, not visiting his daughter’s grave for closure and instead living like an animal letting his own heart become weaker and colder. It is Booth who after leaving prison immediately gets a job, begins a genuine relationship with a woman named Jojo (Robin Wright Penn) and even goes to his victim's grave with flowers. This conflict is the driving force of events and it is Freddy who must come to the conclusion that what happened was an accident, and that his desire for revenge is a way of satiating his own pride more than anything else.

Another thing that is made apparent in this film is how men and women deal with their grief in polar opposite ways. Mary has chosen to move on and remarry but this is no slight against her ability to care about her deceased daughter. At the beginning of the film, parallels are created using cross-cutting to show Mary at a group counseling session for those who have lost loved ones, and Freddy at the strip-club with his buddies. Later we see Mary at her daughter’s graveside, sat peacefully as though she has slowly come to terms with what has happened but has put the effort in to do so. Like I said before, neither of the parents’ way of coping is illegitimate it’s just that, without generalising, it is just natural for men to dwell in the negative and tempestuous side of things, hitting the bottle and feeling sorry for themselves whilst women may be more fearful of letting that pain turn to hate. There is a point in the film where Freddy tells Mary that she’d be lying if she didn’t feel “pride and relief” in hearing that John Booth had been killed. Freddy thinks he is being honest about his vendetta and hatred and that Mary is just in denial or to afraid to admit it and on a surface level that might be the case, however the moving ending of the film teaches Freddy and the viewer that he was the one who was to afraid to face his true feelings, trying to convince himself that killing Booth was the only way he could move on.

The Crossing Guard is a satisfying film to watch because it is one that will leave you hypnotised even if just for a few moments during the rolling of the end credits, with Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Missing’ providing a complimentary haunting sensation as it blends in with the final scene of the film. The performances are good ones all around; Houston looks great and even though her and Nicholson’s on screen time together isn’t huge, they have a good chemistry, both communicating passionately whether in a volatile or sensitive manner. Nicholson is great as always, probably drawing from his own personal experiences in his ability to live on the edge as he does in this. He has also been given an opportunity in this film to expand on his usual repertoire of the slick, sharp, relaxed man of the world, as this is the first time I have seen him so despondent as to break down into tears. David Morse does well in playing with strength, intensity and solicitude, showing signs of Russell Crowe and Michael Madsen in his performance. I think that The Crossing Guard is definitely an achievement Sean Penn should feel proud of, similar in theme and tone to Mystic River, a film in which Penn was the one to play the grieving father and may have even influenced.