Crossing Over - C-

On DVD

You can hear the pitch: It’s Crash with immigration as a backdrop. Harrison Ford (who must have regretted passing on the Michael Douglas role in Traffic) plays an INS agent who leads raids on warehouses in Los Angeles. His Iranian partner Cliff Curtis has a father who will become a citizen soon and a little sister who’s become Americanized (promiscuous). Ray Liotta’s government job lets him approve green cards which comes in handy when he meets a hot Australian (Alice Eve) looking for one. Liotta’s wife Ashley Judd is a liberal lawyer who helps illegal immigrants who wind up getting incarcerated. One of her clients is a 15 year old Muslim whose essay sympathizing with the 9/11 terrorists drew some attention at her school. Rounding it out, a Jew (Jim Sturgess) tries to become a citizen and a Chinese guy runs a laundry shop . . .

Are you worn out yet? I sure was. Like Crash, the implausible coincidences pile up at an alarming rate. And like The Visitor, I have a tough time sympathizing with people who are breaking the law, living in the country illegally. Ford’s search for a young Mexican woman and his scene with the young Iranian woman were the only things that really worked since you could feel him trying to redeem his lost relationship with his own daughter. The only other thing making an impact is Eve’s nakedness. Wayne Kramer made a pretty good Las Vegas drama (The Cooler) and a fun, ridiculously over the top action film (Running Scared), but forgets his own interesting imprint in favor of adopting a homogenized, forgettable style. Can we please have a 50 year moratorium on Crash knock-offs? C-