Robert I'm giving "The Crossing" five stars on the merits of it telling an important story, and the solid performances turned in by Roger Rees, Sebastian Roche and a few others. But the film is seriously compromised by three things.First, it's an absolutely bog-standard Hollywood treatment of a historical event, pulling together every trope in the industry (and underscoring how you're supposed to feel with insistent mood music at every turn). Second, although the Hessian troops were certainly worthy of concern, a far worse enemy was the weather. From all accounts, the weather that night was horrific -- practically a blizzard -- with snow, sleet, high winds and huge chunks of ice floating down the swiftly-moving Delaware River to contend with. In fact, the snow was falling so heavily and the winds were so strong that the Hessians at Trenton actually canceled guard duty for the night because they would be unable to see or hear anything more than a few feet in front of them! (And in reality, they weren't drunk or hung-over; they were exhausted from not sleeping because they did indeed expect the Continental Army to attack; deserters had tipped them off that Washington was planning to attack, but no one knew when.) Does the film reflect this godawful weather? Nope, it has characters saying that they're cold, there's some rain, and (in one scene) there's a dusting of snow on the grass. That's it. The river is placid, winds are calm, there's no snow or ice floes. Absurd! Could the studio really not afford to give us some fake snow or styrofoam "ice floes"?!But the worst thing about "The Crossing" is Jeff Daniels' depiction of Washington. To begin with, the script portrays Washington unlike reality. For example, when General Rall asks to surrender his sword directly to Washington, Washington refuses to accept it and wants to send a subordinate in his place. His aide tells him that he must go and accept it, as that's part of the honor code of officers. Newsflash to the filmmakers: George Washington was an officer in the British Army long before he was a revolutionary; he certainly would've known the proper protocol for surrendering. Indeed, there is no historical basis for this part of the film; it seems to have been invented out of whole cloth.Even worse is Daniels' evocation of Washington's character, which runs contrary to every contemporary account from his friends, which show him as a man impossible to anger -- circumspect, taciturn and reserved; a man who preferred to talk as little as he could get away with, and when he did, he used neutral and carefully-chosen words. Daniels mischaracterizes Washintgon's temperament and manner of speech, and he also brings none of the necessary gravitas to the role. Washington may have been a man of few words, but he also cut a very imposing figure in his bearing. Daniels' Washington appears as a rather small man with a bad temperament, and no amount Daniels' grimacing or attempts to chew the scenery can make up for it. On those grounds, "The Crossing" is, unfortunately, a failure.

mOVIemAN56 The Crossing is one film I've been looking forward to viewing. History has always appealed to me and thought it would be a good view. Jeff Daniels holds the lead of the film and hoped he would deliver a good film. And boy does he ever deliver. Jeff Daniels is Gen. George Washington and delivers the most believable portrayal I've seen. He is portrays Washington as exactly how he would have been: tired, disheartened, but still with a glimmer of hope. His words are delivered in the voice a general way and just seems to capture the man perfectly. The supporting cast is excellent. Sebastian Roche is perfect in the portrayal of Col. Glover. He is bored, rebellious, and one of the smartest men in Washington's army. Roche is able to deliver every line he says with the emotion (or in some cases the annoyance) needed to give the film a little more humor.The film covers from the week before the crossing of the Delaware to the Battle of Trenton. The battle scenes, though few, are filmed as they should be in any film. Graphic, intense, and heart-pounding. The battles show the brilliance of his plans and how un-prepared the Hessians were. By far the best part of the film is the way the filmmakers are able to emphasize the importance of the battle and how if they lost it was the war the lose also. The Crossing. Starring: Jeff Daniels, Sebastian Roche, Roger Rees, and Steven McCarthy.4 out of 5 Stars

pksky1 I didn't either. This and many other interesting facts are revealed in this exciting and dramatic portrayal of General George Washington. It is basically a war drama played out with high realism. The temptation to reduce this piece of history to some kind of patriotic passion play is studiously resisted. Washington himself is played with real aplomb by Jeff Daniels. There are many excellent and gripping scenes of combat. I was surprised to learn that this was made for television. All in all it is a high quality movie good for casual entertainment and only spiced by the guarantee of some education too. For some reason or another commenting on this movie requires at least ten lines. As much as I enjoyed it, there was nothing about it that suggest a comment with ten lines or more. Seven or less was plenty.

sddavis63 I won't vouch for the absolute historical accuracy of what gets portrayed here, but as one take on George Washington's attack on Trenton (the title refers to the crossing of the Delaware River for the attack) it works. Certainly not everything portrayed happened (how can one know exactly what went on over two hundred years ago) but the details of the crossing and the battle were accurate enough from what I know of U.S. history, and the movie itself was dramatic and held my attention from start to finish.Kudos to Jeff Daniels, who offered a completely believable performance as Washington. Daniels is proving to be quite adept at these kinds of historical movies ("Gettysburg" leaps to mind, and of course now "Gods and Generals.") A good, if lesser known, supporting cast also made valuable contributions to this picture.In short, I wouldn't use this as a source material for an essay on the Battle of Trenton, but I would certainly recommend it as a very good movie.8/10