This movie, made in 2009, is well thought out in every way. Wayne Kramer, director / writer / co-producer, hailing from South Africa, must have had the same difficulty crossing US territory and legalizing himself as he so delicately highlights the devastating and worry-filled process of gaining status. once one enters the land of dreams.
Before examining the plot of the movie Crossing Over, I would like to mention my own impression of its technical characteristics. First of all, the film benefits from a remarkably rich cast led by Harrison Ford (as Max Brogan) and others like Ashley Judd (as Denise Frankel) and Ray Liotta (Cole Frankel) who perfectly convey every wave of emotion within each character. , caused by living conditions, to the audience.
However, there seem to be shortcomings in terms of cultural or behavioral study of ethnic families, as there are self-contradictory cases, the Iranian family, for example, that has come to the United States a long time ago despite the fact that the head of the family is represented. as a pro-Islamic revolution and a follower of Khomeini. Despite the associations of a religious person, this man serves liquor to his guests. Odd. Also, the sets don’t match people with those profiles. Whether it is due to ignorance of the director or to the fact that families like this one, to some extent, try to adapt to American life cannot be said. On the other hand, Kramer is so close to putting Iranian culture on the electric chair when he almost, wrongly, says that this is what awaits Iranian girls who share similar circumstances as Zahra Baraheri: victims of honor killings. . But thank goodness at the end of the film the director removes the confusion by showing that this case was a mere mental condition of an older brother.
Second, the camera angle and movements are flawless and so professionally managed that the shots clearly draw the audience into the film and make them feel the same as the characters or, in some cases, see their thoughts. .
The setting, according to the nature of the plot, is brilliantly chosen; A cosmopolitan and very attractive Los Angeles that comprises different ethnicities and attracts many immigrants.
The plot of the film revolves around the hot and controversial topic of immigration and the horrible phases that individuals must go through in order to share the American Dream and enjoy the “promised opportunities.”
Some characters represented in this film reveal a paradox in who they are and what they have to do to earn a living, or mainly in this case, to legalize and grant a green card:
Max Brogan (Harrison Ford), who is shown, in his opening scene of this film, as a loving, gentle and sensitive “human”, works as an ICE agent, who is constantly mocked by his colleagues for his supposed softness. . The truth is, this type of work requires a stone-cold heart in regards to what they face every day. Ford’s character is a lonely old man who catches illegal immigrants during sudden raids on workplaces, like Andasol Fabrics, then deport them, and finally runs after them trying to fix things.
Hamid Baraheri (Cliff Curtis), is Brogan’s co-worker who deported minorities while he himself came from one of them !!! Another conflictive situation about this character is that he describes his culture since in Iranian families it is important to make the father proud, but did they do it? Is the father proud when his daughter is dead?
Future rock musician Gavin Kossef (Jim Sturgess) is a self-professed atheist, although, when necessary, he doesn’t hesitate to use his “Jewish Card” to get an American green card when trying. to convince the clergy that he is a Hebrew scholar as well as a preacher.
Claire Shepard (Alice Eve), Gavin’s Australian girlfriend, who has come to America pursuing her dream of becoming an actress, but lacks the status to act on the television show she has already been on. Eve’s character faces grave misfortune plus deportation when authorities discover that she has been sharing a bed with an INS officer to obtain her green card.
Cole Frankel (Ray Liotta) is the INS official who is married to an immigration attorney, one trying to reduce the number of immigrants and the other thriving to defend their rights and lead them to citizenship.
Denise Frankel (Ashley Judd), the wife of Cole Frankel, an immigration attorney who is doing everything possible to help people. The poignant feature of this character is his pendant from the African continent. Most likely it is to show how much he feels for the Nigerian little girl, who is desperately waiting for her parents to come and get her out of the penitentiary where they have been holding her for so long.
Zahra Baraheri (Melody Khazai) is the only American member of the Iranian family. Born and raised. She is the little sister of Hamid Baraheri. The problem of this character has to do with his way of life, which is considered shameful for the whole family.
Taslima (Summer Bishil), a 15-year-old Bengali high school student, who gets into trouble delivering a speech resulting in her being accused of “provoking sympathy for the 9/11 hijackers.” Although she advocates for freedom of expression, while being inspected by an FBI agent, she is deported anyway. In his assignment work, he had written: “Their voices were heard. You may not like what they had to say or how they got their message across, but for the first time we heard it.”
Mireya Sánchez (Alice Braga), an illegal migrant who comes to Los Angeles to work from Mexico across the United States border. When arrested by Max Brogan, she mentions her son and begs the agent to take care of him. Later, she is killed at the US border trying to return for her young son.
Yong Kim (Justin Chon), who is the oldest of a Korean family whose father brought them to the United States so they could have a better future. He joins a Korean gang that later becomes involved in an armed robbery. His friends are killed by Agent Hamid Beraheri, who lets Yong escape.
There have been some comments on the plot of this movie that blame it for its artificial flow of coincidences that bring all the characters together. However, I believe that everyone in their life has had one or two such experiences; bumping into an old friend through a chain of acquaintances, for example. Small world!