Crossroads

I love this movie... and guitars

I had to give this one a tick of woke. It's actually a half-tick rounded up. Willie argues that Eugene would be "just one more white boy ripping off our music." Willie also gets called "mud-duck" by a white pimp in a small southern town. That's about it for the woke report.

The movie itself is based on the legend of Robert Johnson's deal with the devil at the crossroads. Willie is a harmonica player that spent his life in prison over a self-defense killing of a band member. Eugene is a privileged classical guitar prodigy who is obsessed with Robert Johnson. He believes Johnson had a song that never got recorded and Willie may be the last chance to find it. Eugene breaks Willie out of the hospital, and they go on the road. Eugene is looking for a lost song. Willie is looking for a way to back out of his deal with the devil.

The strength of this movie is the music. There's kind of a Devil Went Down to Georgia story at the end. It's a guitar contest between Eugene and the Devil's guitarist (Steve Vai). If you don't watch the movie, at least find the ending on YouTube. The contest is called "Cutting Heads."

Ralph Macchio learned to play guitar for this part. He didn't do the actual playing, but he developed enough skill that you wouldn't know it. Ry Cooder played most of the actual soundtrack. Vai, of course, played for real. It was awesome!