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 »
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A widower who realized his only connection to his family was through his wife sets off on an impromptu road trip to reunite with each of his grown children.
Director:
Kirk Jones
Stars:
Robert De Niro,
Drew Barrymore,
Kate Beckinsale
An airline pilot saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner which eventually crashed, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling.
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Stars:
Nadine Velazquez,
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The story centers on a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company - and how that affects them, their families, and their communities.
Disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: his 1972 Gran Torino.
Director:
Clint Eastwood
Stars:
Clint Eastwood,
Christopher Carley,
Bee Vang
Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.
Director:
Bennett Miller
Stars:
Brad Pitt,
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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. Written by
Wayne Kramer
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). See more »
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. See more »
Quotes
Special Agent Howell:
You see what's interesting Miss Shepard is we ran a check on your name. A Claire Shepard arrived on a B-2 visitors visa seven months ago and then just two days ago she has her status adjusted to an EB-1 green card for persons of extraordinary ability. According to The Internet Movie Database, the only Claire Shepard that matches your spelling, age and place of birth has two credits on little known Aussie TV shows. Walk on roles. She hasn't won any national or international awards
Special Agent Ludwig:
Which is ...
See more »
"Beni Beni (Acoustic)"
Written by Azam Ali, Ramin Torkian (as Loga Ramin Torkian), Carmen Rizzo
Performed by Niyaz
Courtesy of Six Degrees Records
By Arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group See more »
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
29 of 44 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
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