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, Ashley Judd, Ray Liotta

1 win.

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:

motel sex | mini skirt | lingerie | unfaithfulness | extramarital affair | 

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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:

Crime | 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 [France] Official site [Japan]

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:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$77,370, 1 March 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$454,149, 19 April 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Weinstein Company, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, 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

Wayne Kramer wanted Paul Walker to play the character "Chris Farrell" but Harvey Weinstein insisted that the part went to Sean Penn, which began a series of problematic occurrences involving the film.

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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

[first lines]
Max Brogan: What do you want me to do?
San Pedro ICE Processing Agent: Look, it's not my problem.
Max Brogan: All I'm asking, Stevens, is did the old man get seen to? He was sweating and shaking when I put him on the bus. He said his arm felt numb.
San Pedro ICE Processing Agent: Jesus Christ, Brogan, everything is a humanitarian crisis with you. You've signed off on more orders of recognizance than the rest of your unit combined.
Max Brogan: Don't give me that shit. The man's about to have a goddamn heart attack. I want him seen to.

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Duplicity/Knowing/I Love You, Man (2009)

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Soundtracks

The Star-Spangled Banner
Lyrics by Francis Scott Key and music by John Stafford Smith
Performed by Phil Perry

User Reviews

I'm not on the fence: the critics are idiots

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.