Let's be realistic.

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This still remains the guitar fan go to movie, this soundtrack is unsurpassed. It has it all, classical & blues acoustic, then R&B / rock electric. This is from a time people argued whose the best guitarist or drummer. Sadly now music challenges are who can rhyme most insults. Yes I think rap should be spelt with a c, and DJ sampling is nothing other than theft. There'll never be great musicians again apart from niche listening.

Having just come back from a road trip in the Southern US, the first cinematographic need was for some movie set in those fascinating Mississippi landscapes, and "Crossroads" was one of them. The first opening blues notes make you enter the mood of a lazy, sweet, melancholy, sun-beaten land where people can still today feel till the utmost the pleasure of a music that gets under your skin and makes you shiver. It's the story of a young white boy dreaming of becoming a great blues guitarist, looking for a lost song by Robert Johnson, one of the greatest blues men, ever. The boy knows that the still living harmonica player Willie Brown was a partner of the legendary blues musician Robert Johnson, manages to find him in a nursing home and makes a deal with the old man. He'll help him come back a crossroads where he had once signed a pact with the devil to become a great musician, if the old man teaches him the lost Johnson song. It's a movie about the need to go that land, to the Mississippi delta, to see, feel the places where blues had its origins. It's also the story of an odd friendship between two generations, two worlds, but united by the same passionate longing for a music, a mood that only that music can fully express. And indeed the good soundtrack, makes a difference, sly and pleasant to be listened. Willie once tells the boy the meaning of blues and says: "The blues ain't nothing' but a good man feelin' bad, thinking' 'bout the woman he once was with". Maybe...But if you have a chance, go to Clarksdale (MS) where three crossed guitars at a crossroads, mark where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil to play his own blues, and don't miss some live blues at Red's, not far from that same crossroads: you will taste some amazing live blues music, enjoy the company of hearty people, and experience some real South.

The plot in this movie is awful. It's annoying because every 10-15 minutes it's like the producer has to remind you that this is a movie about guitars.Frances, the temporary love interest, seems to be to squeezed into the plot for some reason, probably to give this movie a part love story. Eugene and Frances happen meet in a barn where Frances is not wearing any pants. However, she wears a top long enough. I hate her character and she does not deserve to be on the cover of the DVD. Frances has an attitude problem, and when she and Eugene fight, she storms off and Eugene comes over to comfort her. He says that he wants her to come with him and that he likes her. This scene is so clichéd and cheesy that I bury my head in hands.Then, they kiss and eventually makes it look like they slept with each other. I wonder to myself if she ever ended up pregnant?! Or maybe she brought condoms with her just in case she happens to meet some stranger she could randomly sleep with.Something that was really weird was when that old man wanted Frances to come in the shower with him. I can't remember properly but for some reason she started taking her shirt off anyway but Eugene shows up and she manages to escape. Another creepy thing is that all these weird old men throughout the movie start saying 'Oh you're pretty' and complimenting on her looks. Later on, she completely disappears out of the movie despite the romance between her and Eugene. She's gone at least.One thing that annoyed me is that in the middle of the movie, Eugene and that old dude go to the guitar shop and trade the acoustic guitar for the electric. The old dude traded something to pay for it. The guitar cost four hundred dollars! Four hundred dollars gone for a brand new guitar and some pick up thing. They could of spent it on food and shelter or at least got a second-hand.At the end of the movie, this guy, the 'devil' challenges Eugene against the top guitarist in the town. If Eugene wins, the old dude, who in the beginning lost his soul, gets it back and if he loses, gets his own soul taken.Asleep at that scene, I was awakened by the sound of a loud piercing guitar noise. My ears hurt. There is a dramatic moment where Eugene takes to the stage and plugs in his guitar. There is this guitar duel between him and that other guy that is the best in the town. It bored me to tears. There was also this girl randomly dancing around them. It sounded like two people childishly fighting on guitar hero. Thanks to clichés, we all know who is going to win. Yes, it's the hero of the story, Eugene from his skills he somehow got. I barely saw him learning any guitar skills and suddenly he becomes a professional.Bottom line, don't watch this movie unless you're a hardcore guitar fan and you enjoy watching old creepy perverted guys hit on young girls. Considering I'm more of a piano person, I give this one star for the guitar parts because there is probably skills I'm not aware of.

I won't bother to detail the plot, because that's already been done here, but I will share my impressions of the movie: First off, the music was ridiculously good. The acting was a close second. Joe Seneca was splendid as the old bluesman, he was at his best when busting Ralph Macchio's balls for being from Long Island. Macchio himself was just okay, although he obviously learned how to play guitar for this movie. (It's Ry Cooder on the soundtrack and Vai stands in as a body double for the extreme closeups of Macchio's hands, but you can tell Macchio is playing the parts.) It was even a treat to see Alan Arbus, my favorite recurring character on MASH (Dr. Friedman) make an appearance. My favorite though were the actors who portrayed Scratch and his assistant. They both looked like the cat that ate the canary, like a couple of guys who love their job and are in on the joke. I'm going to have to go against the grain though and say I didn't like the climactic guitar duel. I've got nothing against Steve Vai, but the entire movie is about the blues, and at the end it emerges that the devil's house guitarist is a heavy metal clown, making stage moves that would look ridiculous even at a Def Leppard show. It was completely incongruous and hit a real sour note for me. But other than that, this movie is great, and a must-see for any music lover.