Well-meaning, predictable family melodrama. Like all movie brothers, the Maloney siblings, Billy (Rick Shroder) and Joe (Brad Pitt), are a study in contrasts. Hardworking Joe juggles a job, education and competitive running; he's a model son to their single mother (Carrie Snodgress).
Moody, alienated Billy is a neighborhood pariah: paroled after a narcotics offense, he hangs out with his drug-dealing buddies. Joe urges Billy to join the high school track team himself, and in trite-and-true fashion the noble sporting activity helps reform the delinquent. But while Billy's star
rises on the field, Joe gives in to jealousy and resentment, especially when Billy proves to be the superior runner. Joe starts drinking heavily, jeopardizing his scholarship, and now black-sheep Billy must rescue the wayward sibling.
The brothers' ironic reversal is compelling, but ACROSS THE TRACKS never realy rises above the average in exploring the problems of youth, and the profanity-laced dialogue draws from the Hey-chill-out-dude-it's-party-time norm. The film's strength lies in the two leads, and particularly the
depiction of straight-arrow Joe, whose virtue and discipline mask an obsessed, fragile personality leave a comment