The Crossing Guard
Miramax Films | Release Date: November 16, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
6
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
But Mr. Penn mostly keeps a tight, impassioned grip on this material, preventing it from wandering too far afield. The influence of John Cassavetes is again clear in the characters' emotional sparring, which has energy and heart. Read full review
80
Washington PostHal Hinson
The current of bereavement never flags even when the dramatic flood becomes stagnant. In every scene, Penn seems to know precisely where the nugget of feeling is hidden, and he doesn't let up until its uncovered. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston give mature performances as the bereaved parents, and David Morse brings an offbeat touch to the basically decent man who traumatized their lives. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Some scenes ramble and go on too long, dialogue occasionally turns awkward and adolescent, and the film threatens to collapse from its own unchecked anger. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff(not credited)
His emphasis on acting is welcome at a time when shallow, smirkingly self-referential performances threaten to become the Hollywood norm, but the film's slack pacing and narrative indiscipline undermine its intensity. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The Crossing Guard is a work of talent and, on occasion, raw passion, but it's also a willed exercise in purgative alienation (imagine "Death Wish" remade by Michelangelo Antonioni). Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
What is good about this film is very good, but there are too many side trips, in both the plot and the emotions, for the film to draw us in fully. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The problem with The Crossing Guard is not the premise or core theme, but the manner in which director Sean Penn breathes life into the story. This film is horribly unfocused. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
So while at times, Penn's film is moving and insightful about the way the heart survives tragedy, at other times it seems to have been made by a gifted schizophrenic who thinks that weird behavior is perfectly normal. Read full review
50
The New YorkerBruce Diones
But ultimately all that melancholy stifles the characters. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
The movie is repetitious in some ways and superficial in others. But though Penn doesn't always seem to know where he's going, his movie doesn't altogether miss its destination. [15 Nov 1995, Pg.05.D]
40
EmpireAngie Errigo
Although there are some great moments (one for Nicholson recalling the toast scene of "Five Easy Pieces"), Penn's intentions lose their way. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The Crossing Guard, Penn's second film behind the camera, is a troubling, troublesome movie whose makeshift structure cannot contain the powerful flood of passions that he and his cast have poured into it. Read full review
40
VarietyDavid Rooney
Much of the film plays awkwardly, its tone veering undecidedly between volatile drama and contemplative psychological study. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The result is a curious mix - a picture that simultaneously seems meanderingly loose, affording the cast plenty of performing space, and suffocatingly tight, choking off the audience from any interpretive engagement. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Penn, who also wrote the script, burdens the story with so many self-indulgent side developments that he loses emotional drive and Freddy's desperate obsession gets lost in the shuffle. Read full review
20
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
David Morse, who plays the driver, gives a relatively sharp and understated performance -- for me the only bearable thing in the movie. Read full review
10
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Penn's film is very slow, sententious, ill-judged about the tensions he wants in long scenes. [18 Dec 1995, Pg.28]
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