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Directed By
Wayne Kramer
Written By:
Wayne Kramer
Cast:
Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, Summer Bishil, Lee Horsley, Cliff Curtis, Alice Eve, Alice Braga, Merik Tadros, Marshall Manesh, Tim Chiou, Josh Gad, Jose Perez, Aramis Knight, Lizzy Caplan, Claudia Salinas, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Alejandro, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Justin Chon, Michael Esparza, Leonardo Nam, Aura Figueiredo, Terence Bernie Hines, Mary-Jessica Pitts, Gigi Rice, Lawrence J. Russo, Kathy Uyen, Mona Weiss, Shelley Malil, Michael Cudlitz, M.C. Gainey, Christopher Murray, Maree Cheatham, George F. Watson, Jean-Pierre Gillain, Mark Alexander Herz, Alan Kemper Armani, Christian Eric Billings, Ryan Gesell, Bob Rumnock, Kathleen Teresa Scott, Jaysha Patel, Tammin Sursok, Melody Khazae, West Liang, Kenny Copeland Jr., Chil Kong, Nina Nayebi, Johnny Young, Tim Coyne, Daniella García-Lorido, Jamison Haase, Deborah Puette, Greg Wendell Reid, Marque Richardson II, Rey Valentin, Kevin Sizemore, Lavetta Cannon, Martin Mathieu, John Rhymes, Roger Marks, Demi Baumann, Bailey Chase, David Miguel Estrada, Adam Kolkin, Alma Martínez, Summer Stephana, Ogechi Egonu, Chioke Dmachi, Chrissie Fit, Fia Perera, Don Scribner
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Crossing Over (2009)
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Movie Review by Zara 
June 28th, 2009
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This is a decent movie which takes a page from the recent onslaught of mass cast movies like CRASH and BABEL, trying to cover all angles while not sacrificing too much to one particular group or person in the film.
Sometimes this works, like in CRASH (in my opinion), and the stories and characters successfully overlap and get you to see the world as a whole, how people are all threads and fibers of one larger tapestry. Sometimes it doesn't (in my opinion, BABEL) because it tries to force understanding and a idealized form of morality onto the viewer. You can't MAKE people be more understanding. You can simply lead the horse to water.
This movie borders on both sides of the horse and drinking issue, showcasing the battles that people go through in order to gain green card status or citizenship in the United States. And no, THANKFULLY, very very THANKFULLY, it does not focus entirely on Mexicans or those from Eastern religious zealot countries. (See, even I can't differentiate properly on who to point fingers at.) This is where the movie wins some extra points.
While I could identify with Harrison Ford's tired and conflicted INS police officer character who feels a duty to his job but also a sense of personal justice (making sure that even if he's deporting people that they're not sick or without their children), it was interesting that I understood a little bit more about the Iranian partner he has. I've worked with Iranian born people who worked for their citizenship status and consider being a national of utmost importance to them. They display their documents and ride high on the American lifestyle, but oddly still adhere to an ingrained belief that women are lesser creatures. I've been privy to being around families where the men and women were separated into different rooms while having a party, told that it was their choice to socialize that way, but found it hard to swallow nonetheless.
The angles of Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd's characters weigh down the movie and its motives. Kinda hard to relate to people who are painted entirely good or entirely bad.
Still, the movie will get you to think about some of your beliefs on what coming to America is or should be like. What's acceptable and what's not. When bureaucracy fails us, where do we go from there?
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