I don`t think much of Sean Penn as an actor , his OTT performance in CASUALTIES OF WAR almost ruined the entire film for me and it wasn`t only that film that Penn yanked my chain , but despite this I can`t help noticing that he does have some talent behind the camera . He`s not flawless of course and his flaws are plain to see in his later film THE PLEDGE but I found THE CROSSING GUARD to be both very moody and very moving with some truly great acting on display . It does suffer from one deep flaw - Penn`s script
The problem is how the two protagonists are written . Freddy Gales daughter is killed by drunk driver John Booth so guess which character THE CROSSING GUARD portrays in a sympathetic light ? That`s right , the one who killed the girl ! I won`t go as far to say that Penn has painted Booth as the real victim , but why on earth does he paint Freddy as being such a harsh character ? He`s vulgar , always in a drunken state and when it comes to women his attitude is disgusting , in fact he`s a dirty old man and there`s nothing to prove it`s caused by the reaction to the death of his daughter . He is the opposite of Booth who is shown as a different character whose spell in prison has changed him into a profound man able to contribute to society . I see so the man bereaved by the criminal is actually the bad guy ? I`m not sure if this is what Penn is saying because the message is somewhat confused .
But despite this serious flaw I`d like to see more films directed by Sean Penn , just as long as the producer keeps him away from a word processor
