I was one of the "lucky" people who got to see a free screening of"Crossroads," and as a result wasted 90 minutes of my life that I willnever get back. I honestly do not despise Britney Spears, I merely consider heranother disposable face in the dying music industry, but she certainly does notbelong on the silver screen.

"Crossroads" follows the same,tired teen road movie formula. It has your geeky girl who will soon blossom intoa beautiful woman, the sassy black girl, the mysterious guy with bad hair, and anew element, the white-trash chick. While the plot is paper-thin and predictable,it tries to gain credibility by tackling issues of child abandonment, teenpregnancy and even rape. These events are force-fed and merely expose the movieas the superficial marketing ploy it really is.

And that's basically allthis movie is - a giant commercial. Britney's new CD is constantly thrust uponthe audience as we are subjected to three renditions of "Not A Girl, Not YetA Woman" and an atrocious cover of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" thatproves Joan Jett is low on cash.

The acting is yet another horribleaspect. The saddest part is, Britney isn't even the worst actress in the movie -Taryn Manning's portrayal of Mimi makes Shelley Duvall look like Jodie Foster.Anson Mount, who plays Ben, seems to be bored out of his skull, and it'sdownright depressing to see Dan Aykroyd reduced to acting in movies such asthis.

Since there are plenty of other movies that are worth spending$8.75, I highly suggest not wasting your money on this garbage. It's not as badas "Glitter," but it comes very close. Britney Spears needs to stay asfar away from film as possible, as should most pop musicians. (I'm looking atyou, *NSync.)