Crossing Over

Very well crafted interwining of several stories with a very real, poingnent feel to each of them that pulls you in. With an overarching subject that is all too frequently politicized (to the detriment of the content), this movie walks the line and shows both sides of each situation. This is not a movie that pushes an agenda, it is a series of well crafted stories that stand on their own.... How far would you go if you were desperate for a green card? Where is the line between free speech and sedition? What are the dangers of cultural mores that we find alien and unacceptable - where then is the line between tolerance and suborning our values? All these ideas portrayed by real people - the immigrants (legal and illegal) and the agents. Both sides are fully fleshed, three dimensional and engaging.For entertainment value 4 stars.For dealing with a very difficult topic with intelligence and very real characters 5 stars.Difficult subject to tackle.

I really wish Hollywood would get over itself. This was a very one-sided movie showing a "chosen" view of a situation that is and has plagued our country for many, many years. Hollywood needs to stay out of politics.

The movie covers six or seven intertwined story threads broadly covering major immigration issues. It offers a candid look at the issues with an emphasis on the immigrants, seen through the eyes of an enlightened (and depressed) ICE officer. I have found it valuable in educating about immigration issues in the US. As the stories are woven together, skipping around the story lines, it is a bit difficult to show a particular story straight through. And it is R rated as it should be, though the violence, profanity and sex is only shown as necessary to develop the stories, and not added gratuitously. I am told that ICE officers as caring and going way out of their way to be helpful (the Harrison Ford character) are quite rare. There are other Hollywood aspects to the movie, but the core of the stories ring all too true. Viewing this movie gives you insight into our serious immigration issues in the US, and does not leave one overly hopeful about solutions.

Well, let me say first that I'm continually disappointed by all the reviewers who have nothing better to do than pour venom on movies that have offended them somehow. I freely concede that bad movies can and do get made but I question the motivations of reviewers whose level of vitriolic reaction is shockingly disproportional to the actual offense any movie can realistically commit. Speaking for myself, I'm NOT going to waste readers' time ripping a movie I think is bad; no matter what I say everyone of us is going to have to endure an occasional clinker from time to time, and shouting my angry opinions at you is only going to make me look maladjusted at best.All of which leads me into my full-throated recommendation of "Crossing Over". Intrigued by the synopsis and cast, I took a chance on this and was powerfully rewarded with an outstanding ensemble drama that ought to provoke all sorts of reflection about our national immigration crisis as well as to stir our own thoughts about just what it means to be an American.First, GREAT performances by both the stars and the unknowns sharing the screen here. Harrison Ford is appropriately bedraggled and exhausted as a seen-it-all ICE officer whose conscience forces him to look beyond his enforcer duties and try to ameliorate at least some of the human damage his job inflicts. Check out how he's got his "Blade Runner" square scotch glass back in a similar alone-at-home scene, examining both case history evidence as well as his own moral compass. Ashley Judd & Ray Liotta are as sharp as ever, portraying a husband/wife on opposite ends of the immigration spectrum: Ashley as an immigration attorney, struggling to help families at the mercy of the Federal immigration sausage grinder, and Ray as a jaded & corrupt bureaucrat sinking to his personal lowest as a bent cog in that very system. Anchored by these seasoned pros, the rest of the cast dials into their frequency, powerfully depicting the endless sour treadmill of immigration cat-and-mouse as a tragedy diminishing the humanity of all trapped within its jaws.So many things grabbed me in "Crossing Over"; first was the dilemma of the illegal Saudi teenager who put her entire family at risk by provoking her high school class with an unbelievably inflammatory speech. YES she should have known better, but I almost immediately thought (and this was surely the directors' intent) "it is just the nature of teenagers to say and do risky, ill-considered things". Here we are challenged by the outrageously disproportional official response: would we approve of such a bare-knuckled official smackdown of a native kid who (for example) dropped a cherry bomb into the school's plumbing, or spray painted a swastika? Is it "justice" or is it brutish tyranny to respond so vindictively to teenage provocation like this?I must also comment quickly on the "honor killing" depicted here. "Crossing Over" depicts the problems of assimilation vividly through conflict boiling beneath the surface of an outwardly "model" Iranian family on the verge of naturalization. Children raised and grown to maturity here are going to be imprinted with values and cultural "frames" vastly different from those their parents (or elder siblings) were born into. It's an understatement to say that this will provoke intense generational conflict, and while these tensions(thankfully) seldom lead to murder, unfortunately such things are not impossible or unprecedented. Here again, outstanding ensemble acting dramatizes the conflict and its causes very effectively, sketching all perspectives without artificially tugging our sympathies one way or another.Implicit throughout "Crossing Over" is the question "what does it MEAN to be an American-a US Citizen-when so many outside our country are prepared to risk so much to live in the shadows among us, where they can all too easily find themselves targets of the nation they gambled EVERYTHING to be part of?" Obviously this is and should be a penetrating cause for self-examination on all possible fronts for each of us lucky enough to be Americans by birth. How DO the ideals our nation was founded on perpetuate and express themselves when challenged by outsiders who aspire to those same yearnings? No easy answers but you simply cannot see "Crossing Over" without these dilemmas tugging at your personal sense of who you are and what you contribute to our nation.It's fair to say that "Crossing Over" indeed owes a great deal in many respects to predecessors like " Crash (Widescreen Edition) , Amores Perros , 21 Grams , or  Traffic ". However, each of those was a great, absorbing, and important cinematic work of art in every meaningful sense. Despite its stylistic similarities, I don't think "Crossing Over" should be diminished by comparison; indeed, if you haven't already, see all of them."Crossing Over" never really had a fair chance in theaters to find an audience. I hope my praise can lead a few receptive readers to take a chance and be as amazed as I was by this arresting and consequential film.

Painful to watch. Threw my disc away.

This movie is an extremely thoughtful comment on the immigration issues facing this country today. With skillful directing, this movie takes us inside the lives of U.S. Immigration agents and several legal and illegal immigrants, telling each of their stories from a unique perspective. Harrison Ford takes a nice turn as a conflicted immigration agent torn between duty and morality, who sees each immigration story as unique and shows more heart than most of his fellow officers. What I find most interesting is that this almost semi-documentary script gives us an intimate look into the lives of those on all sides of the immigration debate, and shows us why we need to be a bit more tolerant in our attitudes on a case-by-case basis. The movie also paints a beautiful picture of the cultural diversity of those who come to this country, and how far some are willing to go in order to remain here. It also reminds us what American citizenship often means to those who weren't born here. It is a very thought-provoking movie.

Sure not the best Ford movie. Unrealistic attempts to makes officials look as badly as possible.

This was a great movie definitely worth seeing

This film attempts to illustrate the hazards of the US immigration system for both its operatives and those trying to enter the country, with the stories of different types of immigrants portrayed in parallel. It unnecessarily mixes these up with a crime story. The filming is gritty and realistic, in the less attractive parts of Los Angeles and California. You can believe that you are there. The cast is variable. Harrison Ford wanders around looking puzzled, grizzled and concerned as he tries to be humanitarian from within the system. Ray Liotta is a convincing sleazeball, which after all is his speciality. Ashley Judd is not a convincing lawyer, and Alice Eve spends far too much time with no clothes on to be more than a stereotype figure. There was a better film inside waiting to get out.

Fabulous film, everyone involved acted their socks off. Great performance by Harrison Ford and good to see Ray Lolita doing a terrific performance too. Some lovely scenes, I cannot say too much, but if you want a non-stop story that is involved and intricate in every way, up this.

Very good.Harrison Ford brilliant actor.I loved this.Great film

I just couldn't get in to this at all and I'm a big Ford fan. I found the 'plot' so incredibly confusing and the characters were flat.

Great film about illegal immigrants with several stories running together. Intelligent approach to a difficult subject - uncomfortable viewing at times, covering both sides of every story.