Pat Bens

Only saw the last 10 minutes of the movie. Was very interested though as it appears to be happening in the late 50s or early 60s judging the clothing and hairstyles, when I was a boy and "was in awe" of the bullies of my neighborhood. Even if i missed almost the entire movie i was stunned that this sort of criminal behavior is still around. Maybe the youth today - like me then - is also still fascinated with the daredevils and their crimes.

Borgnine is a super character actor. His portrayal of Marty reminds me of things that happened to me or my brother. I enjoy a good romantic story but it has to be put in a real environment. This movie goes right to the heart of being single, alone and lonely inside your heart. Here in the big city but it could happen the same way in a country village. People do things the same way no matter where no matter when. Two lonely people meeting by accident and finding out how much they have in common, regardless what's their background. Honesty is the best approach. This simply cannot go well with the friends and family who are shocked that a wonderful relationship is smitten so easily. This movie is so real!

Not much of a movie fanatic - i have walked out of movie theaters more than once - but this story in the swamps of Florida intrigued me from the start. I like adventure movies with a bit of romance and a lot of reality. A young woman moves into an abandoned shack in the wilderness of a FL swamp with her broken car, a few belongings and a typewriter. She is a writer of fiction and intends to spend a quiet life alone writing novels. Things happen. All the neighbors are instantly smitten with her. Their simple existence and lack of education but kindhearted friendship shapes her new life. Her first novel rejected, she's advised by her publisher to forget about fiction and instead write about the new surroundings and her fondness of its people. This forces her more deeply into their common needs and raw relationships thru good and bad times. In the end she belongs to Cross Creek and Cross Creek belongs in her prose. Well recommended for family viewing.

I'm not really a movie fan but the mixture of sarcastic comedy and romance (that i also loved in LOVE STORY) is present in this one too and caught my fancy right away. The tongue in cheek portrayal of working class Mexicans doing construction work on a swimming pool (what one of my tenants did) - and the jibes at the rich family owning a huge super yacht (where i once worked on) brought the story home. I was hooked. I predicted the happy ending, yet it felt good. The cunning women in the plot all succeeded to a point which was refreshing and the hilarious attitude of the co-workers - alluding to the Godfather for instance - reminded me of real moments at work. The only part of the plot that was flat and should have been a shocker was how he got his memory back. I expected a lightning strike or a knock to the head, or something surprisingly hilarious. No - walking across the threshold, how lame! It's wonderful family entertainment thanks to the elaborate roll of her 3 children, involved in a complicated buildup of the ending. 5 stars!