"Crossroads" (the Ralph Macchio one)

[youtalkfunny]

NetFlix doesn't have much when you click the "Watch Now" tab, but they've got "Crossroads", a "meh" 80's movie with a terrific, colossal, fant-abulous ending.

For those who aren't familiar: Ralph Macchio plays a teen guitar prodigy, studying classical music at Julliard. But classical music isn't his true love--he's obsessed with the blues. His hero is blues legend Robert Johnson, the man who became famous for making a deal with the devil "down at the crossroads" in Mississippi, in exchange for being the greatest blues guitarist ever.

Macchio researches the hell out of the early blues masters, and discovers that a harmonica player who knew Johnson just happens to be locked up in a nearby hospital. Macchio tries to contact this old man (played by Joe Seneca), and when he gets no reply, he goes so far as to get a job at the hospital mopping floors in order to get access to the old harp player.

When they finally meet, Macchio asks Seneca if he knows about Robert Johnson's famous "Lost Song", which was never recorded. Of course, says Seneca. Macchio asks Seneca to teach it to him. Seneca replies that it would be a waste of time teaching a blues song to a white kid from Long Island, who can't possibly understand what the blues is really about, which leads to my second-favorite exchange of the film:

SENECA: Why don't you go home to your momma?
MACCHIO: I don't live with my mother!
SENECA: You don't? Where do you live?
MACCHIO: It's like a school dormitory.
SENACA: (feigning shock and sadness) A school dormitory? Times is hard! Times is hard.

Macchio persists, pestering Seneca to teach him the Lost Song. Suddenly, Seneca says that he'll be glad to, if Macchio will bust him out of this minimum-security hospital, and take him home to Mississippi.

It's a buddy/road flick, and they're on the road from NYC to the Dirty Delta. They run out of money when they get to Memphis, and they take the "hobo route" down Highway 61 to the birthplace of the blues. Along the way, Macchio gets to experience some real-life racism, crime, and heartbreak--which is, of course, the type of "mileage" that a rich Long Island kid needs to become versed in the blues.

As a road pic, it's ok. I mean, it's got Ralph Macchio--have you ever NOT liked Ralph Macchio in something? 90 minutes of Ralph Macchio doing anything can't be all bad. He and Seneca do the Odd Couple on the Road thing pretty well. And if you're not accustomed to listening to blues, there's a lot of eye-opening, good music throughout.

But the payoff comes at the end, which I'm going to spoil for you right now.

It turns out that Seneca didn't want to go "home" to Mississippi. He wants to get back to that Crossroads, because he made the same deal with the devil when he was a young man. Now he's an old man, and he wants out of the deal. The devil sees no reason why he should let the old man off the hook, but offers to go double-or-nothing on a bet if Macchio puts up his soul, as well.

Macchio doesn't believe all this devil stuff, and thinks he has nothing to lose when he accepts the challenge to play in a one-on-one guitar showdown--they call it "cuttin' heads"-- versus the devil's guitarist (played by hard rock legend Steve Vai).

This ten-minute scene of dueling guitars is the entire reason to watch this movie! And you should watch it on NetFlix's "Watch Now", so you can strap on a pair of headphones, and blast it directly into your ears. The quality far outshines any clip you can find on YouTube.

I'm telling you, it's two guys with guitars, playing their asses off. Some of it is so beautiful, I weep tears of joy while I watch it.

I saw this film in the theater back in the '80s, and the kids in the projection room absolutely CRANKED the volume during this scene. It was awesome.

Please watch this. Enjoy it. Savor it. I've never seen anything like it.