Immigrants from around the world enter Los Angeles every day, with hopeful visions of a better life, but little notion of what that life may cost. Their desperate scenarios test the humanity of immigration enforcement officers. In Crossing Over, writer-director Wayne Kramer explores the allure of the American dream, and the reality that immigrants find – and create -- in 21st century L.A.
Part of the reason why Crossing Over doesn't work is that too many of the hurdles [director] Kramer places in front of his protagonists often feel like the product of a writer's imagination instead of real-life experiences.
– Rene Rodriguez,
Miami Herald,
19 Mar 2009
rotten:
[Crossing Over] has a paint-by-numbers quality.
– J. R. Jones,
Chicago Reader,
20 Mar 2009
rotten:
You see, it's all a bit too interlocking, a cable series jammed into a couple of hours.
– Lisa Kennedy,
Denver Post,
20 Mar 2009
rotten:
There are good performances here, but the sheer number dilutes their power, leaving the movie a bit of a mess.
– Bill Goodykoontz,
Arizona Republic,
25 Mar 2009
rotten:
Any one of these stories, if properly fleshed out and shorn of contrivance, would have made for a perfectly serviceable film. Instead, we have lots of hysterical little bits of nothing much.