Crossroads

Directed by Tamra Davis

Starring Britney Spears, Anson Mount, Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning, and Dan Aykroyd

Joining a long list of musicians turned actors like Lance Bass of N'Sync and Marky-Mark Wahlberg, Britney Spears makes her acting debut in the not-so epic road trip picture, Crossroads and surprisingly does not deliver the worst performance of the year (that still belongs to Chris Klein in Rollerball). This film follows the very basic road-trip picture formula and so there really aren't many surprises along the way. Basically though, there is only one way you could enjoy this movie, and that is if you like Britney Spears.

The one thing that will keep you scratching your head throughout this film is Britney Spears' character. Britney plays Lucy who is the unpopular, virgin, valedictorian of her high school in possibly the worst casting ever done. It wouldn't have mattered if Britney was the best actress in the world, there is no way that anyone can convince me that she was unpopular or smart. With a body like hers, I think we can all agree that in high school she would be a extremely popular girl. But I can overlook this problem. I can't overlook her being the valedictorian. Britney Spears couldn't be the valedictorian at the "special" school, let alone a real high school. There is just no getting past this point. Throughout the film I kept thinking, "she was the valedictorian? How is that possible?" Clearly this part was not written for her.

As for the rest of the story, this film does the exact same things that every road trip picture does. The car breaks down, they run out of money and must do something crazy to earn some more, they do drugs and/or alcohol, sex is involved, and in the end even though the movie is about a journey and change, you realize that nothing has actually happened. There are no outstanding performances or plot twists, everything is obvious and formulaic. But I do feel real bad for Dan Aykroyd, who plays Britney's father. He used to do good movies. He used to be a great comedic actor. But clearly he has hit hard times. Someone give him a good role. Please.

Britney fans will love this movie, because if they like her music, it is clear their standards are low enough to enjoy this film. And the boyfriends who are dragged to this movie by their Britney-loving girlfriends, will be glad to know that there are two sequences in the film in which you get to see Britney in her underwear as well as one of her in a bikini top. So at least it was realized that something should be done to make the males happy. But even Britney naked wouldn't have made this a decent movie.

If you love Britney Spears, this film will be a life changing experience for you. But for the rest of us, its a waste of time. When Britney grows up, she will not be able to become an actress, thankfully. Hopefully she'll just fade away like many previous pop icons waiting for her chance to be an E! True Hollywood Story. Valedictorian?! I still can't get over that.

RATING: 27%