Crossing Over

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.

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 :)

It's really surprising (for me) to read, that Kramers (director/writer) previous efforts as a writer, were Mindhunters and Running Scared (which he also directed). Both movies, that are more in the action genre and wouldn't really leave with the feeling that the guy who made those movies, could/would be able to make a drama, that can be compared to Traffic and Crash.

Even if you don't feel it lives up to those two (which I feel too), it's still a pretty good movie. You have great actors and there is no holding back any punches. At times it gets really political (and how couldn't it go that way), although sometimes you'd wish even more involvement or that he would shed more light into some segments ... but then again, the movie might have felt too long if he did.

As it is, this is a rock solid drama, about migration (immigration) and many other things in the US.

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

This ensemble multi-ethnic cast turns in solid performances in this formulaic treatment of the everyday dramas faced by the hard working folks at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mexican, Chinese, Palestinian, Australian and Persian plots carom off each other like Olympic Billiards as Harrison Ford, (whose obviously impending retirement is thankfully never mentioned), his heart bleeding from frame one to the credits, leads a solitary existence in an apartment at what has to be the Alimony Arms Hotel. There is no attempt to patch over the Crash/Babel formula; the film embraces it and comes up with some fine set pieces like a gripping intervention (Cliff Curtis and Justin Chon) during a convenience store robbery/shootout. The aerial views of L.A. will make natives want to freeze-frame future DVDs to ID where we are. The climax (NO SPOILER) is played against an attenuated rendering of the National Anthem and packs a punch. Unfortunately, there has to be another five minutes of Tying Up Loose Ends. Does it sound like I didn't like this much? On the contrary, it was 113 minutes well spent and shouldn't have been relegated to the Purgatory of February. April, maybe?