6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
An off-screen narrator, Mort Golden, takes us back to winter around 1975, the year he was 21. He and his two buddies, Tim and Danny, have a fateful trip over the bridge from Detroit into Canada. The three of them are going nowhere in life, although Mort has thoughts of being a writer, while his mom wants him to go to college. He and his pals contemplate making a quick fortune transporting drugs over the border in their beat-up Buick, "the war wagon." Mort's also hopelessly in love with a girl he dated briefly a couple years before. With border inspectors, Tim's temper, and Danny's bottled up emotions, is there any way this can end well?
Starring: Josh Charles, Jason Gedrick, Stephen Baldwin, David Schwimmer, Abraham BenrubiDrama | 100% |
Coming of age | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
1992’s “Crossing the Bridge” is a personal film for writer/director Mike Binder, collecting tales from his youth in Michigan to make a coming-of-age movie about the painful years that arrive post-high school, where the world opens up to some and swallows the rest. It’s a nostalgia piece, but the helmer adds a suspense element to the screenplay to keep it focused, finding tension between moments of reflection. Binder’s fingerprints are evident throughout the feature (he even narrates), and that special touch keeps “Crossing the Bridge” together when editorial slackness rises to ruin the effort, which suffers from a nasty case of repetition. It’s not an especially warm endeavor, but Binder has an eye for emotional and period details, capturing uncertainty with care.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is not representative of a fresh scan, but as something older, it's not completely without appeal. "Crossing the Bridge" is a softly-shot feature to begin with, hoping to achieve a nostalgic haze, but some degree of detail is available, picking up on neighborhood decoration and signage, and performances remain open for study, along with make-up achievements. Colors are satisfactory, leading with warmer blues and browns for the 1970s feel, and skintones are natural. Delineation has a few inky stretches, but handles the movie's considerable evening activity agreeably. Source is in decent shape, without any significant areas of damage.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix supports the feature's classic rock mood with strong, clear soundtrack selections, which provide a slightly heavier, comfortably wider presence with crisp instrumentation. Scoring sets a guitar atmosphere, permitting softness to support dramatic incidents. Dialogue exchanges are clean and expressive, managing wily banter and quieter confessions. Atmospherics secure bridge traffic and outdoor activity.
The drug run plays a critical part in "Crossing the Bridge" (David Schwimmer plays the stoner who informs the gang of the moneymaking opportunity), and Binder does a successful job getting to the pressure point of opportunity, with Mort, Tim, and Danny figuring out if they have the mettle to take The War Wagon over the bridge and bring home a small fortune. As with everything in the movie, the climax is too long, in need of more cutting and shaping, but the feelings it covers are fascinating, with the writing exploring friendship, the fatigue of recklessness, and risk. Binder delivers a satisfying resolution to the struggle, and he coats the rest of the picture in honeyed classic rock songs and period ornamentation, delivering a feel for post-teen life in Michigan (the feature was actually shot in Minneapolis). "Crossing the Bridge" retains tension, but it's also an effective time travel device, taking viewers back to the confusing and constricting moment where young lives, amped up on carefree behavior, are urged to take responsibility for their actions and begin to think clearly about their future.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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