Crossing Over (2009)

"An exceptional film.  Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies
"Harrison Ford - in his best role in years - and Cliff Curtis are the main reasons to see the film.  Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
"...a shotgun wedding of Traffic and Crash...  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Editor's Note The struggle to achieve resident alien status, or gain full-blown citizenship in the United States, provides some thought-provoking material in this feature from director Wayne Kramer(THE COOLER). CROSSING OVER is an ensemble piece that contains many overlapping storylines, most of which revolve around Max Brogan (Harrison Ford), a law enforcement official who specializes in arresting people who break stringent immigration laws. Joining Ford is Ray Liotta, who plays a corrupt immigration official who forces a wannabe Australian actress (Alice Eve) to sleep with him in exchange for a green card. The film also focuses on the rigorous guidelines laid down in post-9/11 America, with Kramer detailing the shocking maltreatment of a teenage girl who faces deportation after giving a misguided high school presentation on terrorism. These tales, and several others, all combine to present an intricate overview of the desperate and often overwhelmingly sad lengths people will go to so they can remain in the United States. Kramer?s film closely mirrors other harrowing ensemble pieces such as Paul Haggis?s CRASH (2004) and Richard Linklater?s FAST FOOD NATION (2006). CROSSING OVER carefully presents many different sides of this complicated issue and also examines how coincidence and good fortune can play a part in achieving resident status. Ford is perfectly cast as the downcast lead character who battles with the moral and ethical ramifications of his job, and frequently gets too close to the people he is required to prosecute. Kramer skillfully interweaves each tale and allows just enough screen time to each of his characters, with Cliff Curtis leading the excellent supporting cast by playing an Iranian-American immigration official whose life is irrevocably altered by a series of tragic personal and professional occurrences.

	Summer Bishil
	Jim Sturgess
	Ray Liotta
	Ashley Judd
	Harrison Ford
	Alice Eve
	Justin Chon
	Cliff Curtis
	Alice Braga
	Michael Beugg - Executive Producer
	James Whitaker - Director of Photography
	Wayne Kramer - Producer
	Mark Isham - Composer
	Bob Weinstein - Producer
	Harvey Weinstein - Producer
	Wayne Kramer - Screenwriter
	Frank Marshall - Producer
	Wayne Kramer - Director

Rolling Stone
"Ford brings a quiet intensity to Max Brogan....Ray Liotta brings astonishing dimension to Cole Frankel..." 03/05/2009

Entertainment Weekly
"The director, Wayne Kramer crisscrosses these stories into a diverting anthropological melodrama, with enough coincidence to keep the action unified." 03/06/2009

ReelViews 7 of 10
Crossing Over is Wayne Kramer's Crash-inspired look at the world of immigration in Southern California. Like Paul Haggis' Oscar winning film, this one is replete with coincidences and contrivances but, unlike Crash, it also features too many instances in which the message overshadows the characters. The storylines are less compelling and there are times (such as one instance in which the action pauses for a lengthy homily) when the movie seems more concerned about advancing a political perspective than telling a story; The Visitor made many of the same points in a more organic fashion. Enough things in Crossing Over work to keep the film from becoming a bore, but this is a definite step down from Kramer's past efforts, The Cooler and Running Scared...Crossing Over comes across too often as heavy-handed. This is most obvious in the scenes featuring Harrison Ford, whose character is unconvincingly kind-hearted and altruistic. Ray Liotta, on the other hand, plays the kind of sleaze he has become typecast as: a government worker who cheats on his wife and breaks the law so he can degrade a pretty blond whenever he wants. (Although, in is defense, Liotta avoids the frothing-at-the-mouth approach that has characterized some of his more recent "bad guy" roles.)...The filmmakers' point-of-view is obviously that the current immigration system is broken, and that's something everyone, regardless of their political leaning, can agree upon. Subtlety, however, is not one of the tools Kramer elects to employ in elucidating this perspective. The film is too clumsily developed to elicit much sympathy for the characters and some of the actions and interactions that occur on screen are too unlikely to accept, even within the limited microcosm being explored by the narrative. Crossing Over may hold some appeal for those who loved Crash, but this is a diluted cousin to a film that was overrated in the first place. - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
We spend a lot of time talking about the American Dream and have too much suspicion about those who want to live it. Feelings against immigrants are so freely expressed even in polite society that you'd think they all came here for the free lunch. "Crossing Over" creates a mosaic, too simplistic to be sure, of recent arrivals who came here for admirable reasons and will be valuable citizens if they get the chance. Most of them will anyway...It is hard to immigrate to this country legally and potentially fatal to do it illegally. That's why I speculate we get some of the best and the brightest; it takes determination, ambition and skill to get into the United States either way. Many of those who arrive want to improve themselves, and in the process, they will improve us. I've been taking a lot of cabs the last couple of years, and I've noticed most of the drivers are obviously immigrants, from India, Pakistan, Africa, the Philippines, the Middle East and the Americas. Without a single exception, they all have their car radios tuned to the same station, the best station we have, National Public Radio. It tells you something..."Crossing Over" borrows the structure of "Crash" to tell interlocking stories about several immigrants, their problems and their families. All of their lives connect in some way, if only through U.S. immigration officials. "Crash" wove its pattern fairly naturally. "Crossing Over" seems to strain, with too many characters, too many story strands and too much of an effort to cover the bases. We meet immigrants new and established, legal and illegal, from Mexico, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Iran, England, Korea and Australia. It feels like a list...Yes, the film is "flawed" -- that prissy film critic's complaint. If you're looking for plausibility and resist manipulation, you'll object to it. But sometimes movies are intriguing, despite their faults, and you want to keep on watching. This one is like that. - Roger Ebert