In Leo Milano's THE CRUSADES we experience a semi-autobiographically tale, told through the director's personal and artistic lens of what it was like to come of age at private all boys school in Chicago.
Those with similar backgrounds and experiences will surely resonate on a deeper level, while all audiences will take joy in seeing such a unique and personal perspective of high school brought to life in uncompromising style.
As a female viewer, I appreciate getting a ticket to ride a male coming-of-age rollercoaster that's chock full of the usual jokes and hijinks, but also emotional depth. While the film is set in all-male spaces and perspectives, it refreshingly avoids "male fantasy" tropes and offers more complex, authentic, and bittersweet takes on coming-of-age milestones.
Rather than paint over his past with happy endings and easy triumphs, Milano offers up the insecurities, neuroses, mistakes that are the true tenants of adolescence. Any confidence, personal growth, or female adoration that protagonist Leo (an irresistible Rudy Pankow) is able to cultivate for himself, is true to life: messy and hard-earned. It's a testament to the beauty of indie film and this team in particular, that THE CRUSADES brilliantly avoids the sense of entitlement and self-indulgence that oozes from so many films in this category.
Even more commendable is the fact that the filmmakers seem to genuinely care about including all audiences along for the ride. The movie manages to hit high-stakes antics and big comedic swings while also using the storytelling to give us thorough understandings of the characters and their journeys. Fans of Superbad, Everybody Wants Some!! And Ferris Bueller's Day Off will all be satisfied by this artfully told, unapologetically fun, coming-of-age chronicle and refreshed by a narrative that properly honors the rough patches of growing up.
