 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Crossing Over
- Review Date: June 7, 2009
- R
- Genre: Drama
- 2009
Common Sense Media says
Intense immigration drama doesn't live up to its intentions.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this mature drama isn't likely to be on most teens' must-see lists. In the same vein as Traffic and Crash, it attempts to capture the complex nature of immigration to America (both legal and illegal), with desperate characters doing desperate things. While the film presents a nuanced, complex look at the issue, it also contains scenes of blunt sexuality (including partial nudity) and brutal violence (intense shootouts and more). There's also lots of strong language ("f--k," racial epithets, and more), drinking, and smoking.
What's the story?
Set in L.A., CROSSING OVER follows several characters through the process of immigration: two Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers (Harrison Ford and Cliff Curtis), an immigration lawyer (Ashley Judd), a government worker (Ray Liotta), a Bangladeshi teen (Summer Bishil), an aspiring musician (Jim Sturgess), an Australian would-be actress (Alice Eve), a Mexican factory worker (Alice Braga), and a Korean-born teen (Justin Chon). As the characters' lives intersect, they make difficult choices -- such as whether to obey the law or break it in the name of the greater good and whether to stay in America by any means necessary or leave everything behind instead of suffering brutal injustice and indignity in the name of trying to stay.
Is it any good?
Crossing Over serves as a great demonstration of how good intentions don't always mean good movie making -- and how having a broad group of characters in a film can often mean that the individual characters seem thin. Directed by Wayne Kramer -- best-known for violent diversions likeThe Cooler and Running Scared -- Crossing Over shoots for the same big, widescreen novelistic sweep as films like Traffic, Crash, and Fast Food Nation, but it lacks a certain gracefulness in its execution. For example, Bishil's teen is foolishly stupid-brave in a way that such an obviously smart kid wouldn't be -- but her foolhardiness does advance the plot toward its conclusion.
The film's plotlines intersect -- some naturally and some with a forced clumsiness -- and much of the movie's closure feels a touch too earnest. Ford is better than you'd think as an aging immigration officer who cares too much, but he's under-used and under-written. Ultimately, Crossing Over is a textbook example of what happens when a movie maker's reach exceeds his or her grasp.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about the movie's central issue of immigration. Why do you think this issue is a hot button in the media?
How do TV shows and movies typically address the issue of immigration? And why do you think
so many people break the law to live in America, risking their freedom
and/or their lives?Do you think the immigration process is easier for
Caucasian, English-speaking immigrants than it is for people of color?
Why or why not? How hard -- and how necessary -- is it for immigrants
to adapt their cultural values to fit within the American mainstream?
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Parent of 11, 13, and 16 year old
March 1, 2009
AGE
watch this
watch the movie
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Parent of 7 and 8 year old
June 25, 2009
AGE
i am 40 and love harrison ford and these types of movies, but i am unable to enjoy it due to the language and would be appalled if my husband wanted to stay and see the whole movie, as it is inappropriate for him as well! so i think the age rating is absolutely wrong and should be adults only. and at that they should look at what they are putting into their minds and time.
What other families should know:
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| Studio: | Weinstein Co. |
| Director: | Wayne Kramer |
| Cast: | Ashley Judd, Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 113 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | February 27, 2009 |
| DVD release date: | June 9, 2009 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | pervasive language, some strong violence and sexuality/nudity |
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