Crossing Over

Unlike Crash, another recent disparate-people-dealing-with-a-sociological-issue movie, Crossing Over is poignant, stirring, and rousing, capturing what must be the wrenching experience of being an immigrant, legal or otherwise, in the United States. Led by Harrison Ford, the ensemble cast touches all the bases. Although the movie can be very difficult to watch at times, owing to its subject matter, it's a tough-minded look at the often-tragic issue of immigration.

Ford plays Max Brogan, an INS agent stationed in Los Angeles, who decides to help an illegal textile worker (Alice Braga) by making sure that the woman's son is taken to his grandmother (the woman's mother) in Mexico when the woman is detained. Meanwhile, Max's partner Hamid Baraheri (Cliff Curtis), struggles to reconcile his job with the culture of his family (Iranian) and the reckless behavior of his younger sister. Ray Liotta plays Cole Frankel, an adjudicator who determines the status of immigrants and their green cards; Alice Eve is an aspiring Australian actress who has to degrade herself to lengthen her stay in the country; Ashley Judd plays Liotta's wife, who defends immigrants in status cases. In a parallel storyline, a young Korean youth, days before his family's naturalization ceremony, makes a decision that could have terrible consequences.

All of these story lines are intricately intertwined, but here's where the movie differs from Crash: the interactions of the various characters never feel forced or insincere, and the characters themselves are not simple good people doing bad things or bad people doing good things.

The acting is uniformly grand. Ford, who rarely plays nonhero roles let alone supporting roles, is excellent as the crusty, world-weary agent, trying desperately to solve a serious crime that may hit close to home while also doing the right thing by the young textile-worker mother. Also shining is Judd (and, to a lesser extent, Liotta, although he plays the same character in many of his movies now - a slimeball), but really sealing the deal is Curtis (10,000 BC, Sunshine) as the conflicted agent of Iranian descent.

Like the issue of immigration itself, the movie is complicated, almost detrimentally so, but the conflict should certainly resonate with its audience, even if one is not an immigrant or part of a family that has recently immigrated. Certain scenes are almost deadly with their pathos, figuratively rending your heart as they play out. Emotionally gripping scenes such as these (particularly near the end of the film) exemplify precisely the kind of psychological gymnastics that a director must undertake for a film like this to have any sort of positive effect on its audience. That is, the entire issue of immigration is fraught with anger, deceit, terror, and sadness, and it can be tricky to walk the line between one feeling or another, lest one be accused of bias.

Crossing Over falls into none of the traps that Crash fell into. Its character-driven storyline is brimming with plausible conflict that eclipses the usual cops-and-illegals pastiche, choosing instead to deal with problems on a more individual level. The result is an honest, illuminating look at a sometimes-vexing subject, although it is clearly not for all tastes.

This movie makes crash seem like over-dramatized sensationalism. Crossing Over has a powerhouse cast portraying a far more realistic depiction of attitudes and perspectives in contemporary America. The only reason I didn't give it a 10 is because towards the end one plot stream takes a Hollywood twist, which while not especially relevant, detracts from the gritty realism of the movie.

A lot of people have trouble with portrayals of perspectives which challenge the psychological defense mechanisms we put in place to allow us to filter reality into something easier for us to live with. If we really look at things for what they are, the world is a very scary place. This is why you will notice that people get disproportionately agitated when you challenge these mental constructs, leading to loud and/or ignorant opinions. <--also well portrayed at times in the film.

I thought about using smaller words for those weak minded loud mouths, but they probably didn't read this far and I've learned, to my dismay, that all I can do is dismiss their stupidity/cowardice anyways.

If you can see past what mass media shoves down your throat, you will thoroughly appreciate this movie, I guarantee it :)

Wayne Kramer wrote, produced (along with Frank Marshall) and directed "Crossing Over," an ensemble drama about illegal immigration in Los Angeles. The film boasts a very good cast , such as Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Jim Sturgess, Ashley Judd, Cliff Curtis, Alice Eve and Alice Braga. "Crossing Over" was released by The Weinstein Company : Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein as executive producers in 2009. It is a thoughtful and thought-provoking movie with engaging and thorny themes . The film deals with document fraud at the border, the process of seeking political asylum in obtaining the Green Card, the anti-terrorism office and the clash of cultures. Crossing Over is about illegal aliens of many nationalities in the Los Angeles area , concerning a canvas with different roles of various nationalities in Los Angeles struggling to get the necessary documents to stay in the United States and the authorities and individuals dealing with them . Cole Frankel (Ray Liotta) , a corrupt immigration officer, makes a deal with Australian immigrant Claire Shepard (Alice Eva who's in love for Jim Sturgess playing a Jewish though atheist role) : he can have unlimited sex to get the legal documents. Meantime, his wife Denise Frankel (Ashley Judd) attempts to adopt a little girl from Nigeria . While a South Korean teenager Yong Kim, who is about to be naturalized, participates in a robbery . Law enforcer Max Brogan (Harrison Ford) interested in a hapless Mexican (Sonia Braga) takes care of her little son. Brogan has an Iranian colleague, Hamid Baraheri (Cliff Curtis) and Hamid's family disapproves of his sister having sex with a married man. A 15-year-old girl from Bangladesh, presents a paper at school promoting that people should try to understand the 9/11 hijackers.

¨Crossing Over¨ dealing with various unfortunate immigrants struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles . The film regards various interesting roles set in the border , document fraud , the asylum and green card process , work-site enforcement , naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures. Being well and realistically paced by Wayne Kramer by using different stories that are eventually interwoven , utilizing complex narration, steadicam and crane shots .¨Crossing Over¨results to be one of the very few pictures containing attractive portrayals of both legal and illegal immigrants in the United States.

It displays an evocative and moving musical score by Mark Isham . As well as atmospheric cinematography by James Whitaker , shot on location in Los Angeles , Santa Clarita , California . The motion picture was compellingly made by director Wayne Kramer . However , the original cut was 135 minutes long, but despite having the right to final cut , film's producer Harvey Weinstein supposedly threatened him to edit the film down to two hours . Wayne Kramer is a fine filmmaker who immigrated to the United States in 1986 , he often provides heavy emphasis on sexuality and violence and unusual transition shots. Kramer has written and directed decent movies that have won several prizes and nominations , in fact he was nominated for a 2004 Golden Satellite Award and a 2004 Edgar Allan Poe for his screenplay to ¨The Cooler¨, which also received a 2003 Special Mention For Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review . Wayne followed up "The Cooler" with "Running Scared," a gritty action thriller for New Line Cinema starred by Paul Walker , Vera Farmiga, Chazz Palminteri and Elizabeth Mitchell. "Running Scared" was released in 2006 and has since become a cult favorite among action fans. Most recently, Wayne directed the black comedy ensemble "Pawn Shop Chronicles ,"the film stars Paul Walker, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser. Wayne will next direct the dystopian sci-fi love story "Ecstasia," based on his upcoming novel, with Scott Eastwood attached to star . Kramer's other credits include the original screenplay for "Mindhunters" (2004), directed by Renny Harlin and released by Dimension Films, among others . Rating ¨Crossing over¨ 7.5/10 . Better than average , well worth watching.

Apart from the usual movie-movie technology of enhancing a license plate from grainy dots to sharp numbers, I had nothing against this movie. I strongly disagree with the apparent consensus and the low tomatometer rating. Crossing Over is an emotional film, and makes points that will be unpopular. The film creates empathy for someone we at first shrink from, namely the 15 year old Bangali girl who inflames her classmates on the topic of 9/11. She had forgotten what happened to Bill Maher. Meanwhile Harrison Ford's character Max Brogan gets razzed for any show of empathy or concern for the people is team have to process through immigration. He puts a weathered human face on a job that must be unpleasant. We understand when that climate - peer pressure - causes him to stop short of helping someone in a timely fashion, and Ford is very watchable doing the most mundane things as he confronts the consequences of compromise. I don't feel connections between the characters are implausible. It gives unity to the overall comment on community and who should be included and who should not.

Though there have been many films about the horrors faced by illegal immigrants attempting to get into or stay in the US, few films have addressed the issues on both sides of the table as well as CROSSING OVER. This film probably did not do very well in theatrical release because of the very difficult subject matter with which it confronts the audience: few people who go to the movies to escape the realities of life outside elect to be disturbed. CROSSING OVER, as written and directed by Wayne Kramer, forces us to learn just how treacherous the matter of immigration is on every level - from the border incidents, to document fraud, to worksite enforcement/raiding, to the concept of asylum, to naturalization, the green card process, the problematic office of counter terrorism, and finally to the basic cultural clashes that pit compassionate law officers against red neck raider type officers. To absorb the intricately woven aspects of the script, a script that addresses immigration issues dealing with Koreans, Africans, Iranians, Australians, Mexicans, and Jewish/atheist Britishers, the audience must pay close attention lest the subtleties are lost in the swirling nonstop drama. Harrison Ford as the compassionate, burned out immigration officer Max Brogan holds the film together as he attempts to make sense of the various irregularities in every aspect of the immigration process. His partner is Iranian American Hamid (a particularly fine performance by Cliff Curtis) who faces family problems with his American born sister and his father who is on the brink of naturalization - one of the many subplots that involves 'honor killing'. Another man Cole Frankel (Ray Liotta is a smarmy role) reveals another view of a 'bad agent' while his wife Denise (Ashley Judd) fights for the rights of an African orphan held for 23 months awaiting sponsorship. A brave Iranian girl Taslima (Summer Bishil) speaks out for the rights of Muslims to be heard and plunges her family into deportation problems. Among the other subplots are stories about a Korean family whose one son (Justin Chon) is forced into gang warfare, an Australian actress (Alice Eve) who must secure her green card through sexual favors with Cole Frankel, a Mexican mother Mireya (Alice Braga) who is captured during a raid at a workplace and befriended by Max Brogan, and young British musician (Jim Sturgess) who must convince authorities of his 'Jewishness' in order to maintain a job that will result in a green card. Each of these stories represents an aspect of our current dysfunctional system management of immigration. The film does not take sides: it merely presents a smattering of the atrocities and imperfectly managed departments of government that together form a system that is chaotic. Of interest, Sean Penn (listed as being in the cast on this page of Amazon.com) requested his small role be cut because of the objections of Iranian-American groups over the use of the 'honor killing' subplot. That may indicate how many people may view this film: the story will either anger or disgust some viewers. But what this very well acted and produced and directed film does is provide windows through which we may more closely examine the tragedies of our current immigration system. Perhaps change will occur once people are informed of the injustices. Grady Harp