“Crossing Over,” with its ensemble cast headed by Harrison Ford, tells a tale of illegal aliens in Los Angeles. Because this is a message movie, director Wayne Kramer uses a heavy hand to manipulate his characters and tug at our heartstrings and he’s only partially successful. Immigrants come from all corners of the world, not just Mexico. There’s Gavin (Jim Sturgess) a British musician who tries to use his Jewish roots to gain permission to stay in the US as an Orthodox holy man; there’s Claire (Alice Eve) an Aussie actress who is promised legal status by Cole (Ray Liotta), an immigrations adjudicator, if she’ll sleep with him whenever he wants; there’s Taslima (Summer Bashil), a 15-year-old Bangladeshi who gets into trouble with the feds after she reads her essay defending the courage of the 9/11 hijackers; and there’s Yong (Justin Chon), a Korean teen who, on the eve of taking his naturalization oath, is lured into a gang and senseless violence. One of the main story lines involves Max Brogan (Harrison Ford), an immigrations officer, who is touched by the plight of a woman he arrests (Alice Braga). Max’s partner, Hamid Baraheri (Cliff Curtis), is dealing with issues in his traditional Iranian family. His father, about to receive his citizenship, is angered and embarrassed by the behavior of his American-born daughter, Zahra (Melody Khazae)
The biggest failing of “Crossing Over” is that it lacks credibility. This is most obvious in the scenes featuring Harrison Ford, whose character is unconvincingly kind-hearted. Ford seems tired and perhaps just too old for this role. Ray Liotta, on the other hand, plays sleaze well. That Cole develops ‘feelings’ for Claire is too much of a script contrivance. Given the nature of their relationship, it’s not remotely believable. The most critical plot machination occurs when Hamid confronts a convenience store robber and gives him a lecture about the evils of crime and the glory of taking the citizenship oath. Only one story has a ring of truth – that of a Middle Eastern family being torn apart because of a high school girl’s lapse of judgment. Kramer manages not only to provide a tragic account of unintended consequences, but offers commentary about how fear-stricken this country has become. Obviously, the current immigration system is broken; but “Crossing Over” isn’t reflective enough to stimulate much thoughtful conversation. 3/6/09
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