Crossroads

For a synthetic exercise in career-building, this road movie aimed at barely adolescent girls isn't as bad as it might be until the ludicrous finale pushes it firmly into the realm of pure piffle. Designed to facilitate prefabricated pop tart Britney Spears's conquest of the entertainment world, it contains some surprisingly sweet give-and-take between the three lead actresses, even if Spears invariably gets the lion's share of the attention. And while Spears is no Meryl Streep, she also isn't Pia Zadora — at the very least, she can convincingly play a blandly pretty teenager unaccustomed to independent thought. Alabama 10-year-olds Lucy, Mimi and Kit bury a box...