Waste of time

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

In what looks like the Los Angeles area, pot-smoking hot blond Rick Schroder (as William "Billy" Maloney) steals a car and gets caught by the cops, while skuzzy pal David Anthony Marshall (as Louie) escapes by dumpster diving. After a year in reform school, Mr. Schroder is granted probation. He goes home to live with poor widowed mother Carrie Snodgress (as Rosemary) and older brother Brad Pitt (as Joe "Joey" Maloney), a high school track star aching for a Stanford scholarship...Screw-up Schroder is enrolled in a (nicer) high school on the other side of town, due to some program set up with the reformatory. This sets up the storyline as the brothers may eventually face-off "Across the Tracks" on opposing track teams. Apparently, Mr. Pitt did not get long well with his kid brother, and gives him a really hard time. Schroder has sweaty nightmares and must resist strong lures to return to his delinquent lifestyle. Mother Snodgress loves both of her sons with all of her heart...This story of sibling rivalry takes a long time to get off the ground as the opening acts do little to make it convincing. Schroder and Pitt do not initially impress as brothers. Pitt employs some obvious "high school gosh" for his characterization; with a good tail wind, his bangs threaten to win the race on their own. Surprisingly, considering their subsequent acting reputations, Schroder is the one who builds-up some believability, minus the partying. Turnabout is fair play, in brotherly love and acting.****** Across the Tracks (1991) Sandy Tung ~ Rick Schroder, Brad Pitt, Carrie Snodgress, David Anthony Marshall

Joe Maloney (Brad Pitt) is an all-star runner on his high school track team. Billy Maloney (Rick Schroder) is a troubled youth who is in with the law, and about to be kicked out of the family. Trying to be a good older brother, Joe asks Billy if he wants to run with him in the mornings before school. Billy gives it a shot, and much to everyone's surprise turns out to be quite a little runner. Joe convinces Billy to try out for his schools track team (Billy is in a different school because he's caused too much trouble in previous ones) and it's a good thing he does, because that sets up the rest of the movie. It's a pretty cliché tale of everyone struggling but overcoming their inner demons at just the right moment. Carrie Snodgress does do a great job as the mom who refuses to move on from the point where her husband died. Overall, I'd say it is worth a shot; you won't learn anything new but you will feel better about yourself and life around you. As a last thought, the only problem I had was that as soon as the protagonist made the decision to change they didn't have to face the past. So the movie was a little fantastical that way, but that can be pretty easily overlooked. Rating: 24/40

...okay, not really. But still, this Ricky Schroder/Brad Pitt production (made when Schroder was the bigger name) has all the after-school special charm of...all those after-school specials that I forget the names of. The story is cliched and the characters are simplistic, but if you don't take it too seriously and pretend your high school track team is watching it on the way back from state championships or something silly like that, you might actually have a great time with this movie. If you actually want to see a real movie and not something that is just fun to laugh at, I wouldn't recommend it. Great for bigger, slightly intoxicated audiences, especially if they are runners. Also great for people who love incredibly sappy stories of brotherly love.

Not much to rave about unless you happen to be a Brad Pitt fan or a follower of Rick Schroder. The two play high school brothers that find some success on the track field. Pitt is trying to walk the straight and narrow; while Schroder is a reform school refugee. Otherwise this movie does good to hold interest against an after school TV movie. Carrie Snodgress plays the passive mother still grieving her husbands death. Thomas Mikal Ford is the "meaning well" track coach. Unrealistic casting hurts.