Crossing Over (2009)

Crossing Over is a multi-character canvas about immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film deals with the border, document fraud, the ... See full summary »

Director:

Wayne Kramer

Writer:

Wayne Kramer (screenplay)

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	Max Brogan
Ray Liotta	...	Cole Frankel
Ashley Judd	...	Denise Frankel
Jim Sturgess	...	Gavin Kossef
Cliff Curtis	...	Hamid Baraheri
Alice Braga	...	Mireya Sanchez
Alice Eve	...	Claire Sheperd
Summer Bishil	...	Taslima Jahangir
Jacqueline Obradors	...	Special Agent Phadkar
Justin Chon	...	Yong Kim
Melody Zara	...	Zahra Baraheri (as Melody Khazae)
Merik Tadros	...	Farid Baraheri
Marshall Manesh	...	Sanjar Baraheri
Nina Nayebi	...	Minoo Baraheri
Naila Azad	...	Rokeya Jahangir

Storyline

Crossing Over is a multi-character canvas about immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film deals with the border, document fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures.

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Plot Keywords:

naturalization | immigrant | fraud | green card | san pedro california | 

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Taglines:

Every day thousands of people illegally cross our borders... only one thing stands in their way. America.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, some strong violence and sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [fr] Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Korean Persian Spanish Arabic

Release Date:

26 February 2009 (Bahrain)

Also Known As:

A szabadság határai

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$77,370 (USA) (27 February 2009)

Gross:

$454,149 (USA) (17 April 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Weinstein Company, The, Kennedy/Marshall Company, The, Movie Prose

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 140 min (original)

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Wayne Kramer's original cut was 140 minutes long, but despite having the right to final cut, this film's producer agreed to be involved in editing the film down to two hours when Harvey Weinstein allegedly threatened to release the film straight to DVD, and bypass theatrical altogether (Kramer had nothing to do with the re-editing).

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Goofs

When Harrison Ford's character, who is supposed to be an experienced Border Patrol agent, tries to dial the phone number in Tijuana, Mexico, you can see that he dials 1661 and the rest of the number as if dialing within the US. An experienced agent should know that it's an international number and one must dial 011 followed by the country code and the number. In this case he should have dialed 01152661 and the rest of the number.

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Quotes

[in order to convince the immigration adjudicator that he is entitled to receive Green Card, Gavin is requested to demonstrate his familiarity with the Jewish religion by reciting "Kaddish" prayer - a Jewish prayer, most of it Aramic. Since the atheist Gavin has little knowledge of Jewish religion, he recites instead a mishmash of prayers, blessings, hymns and non-religious songs in Hebrew]
Gavin Kossef: Baruch ata, Adonay, melech haolam...
[= Blessed are you, Lord, King of the universe]
Gavin Kossef: Hevenu shalom alechem....
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Miss March/Race to Witch Mountain/Sunshine Cleaning (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Bad Habits"
Written by Scott Larson & Patrick Aldous
Performed by Desert Radio
Courtesy of Desert Radio Music, Inc.
By Arrangement with Nettwerk Productions

User Reviews

Crash Lite

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?