Crossing Over   Starring: Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd and Jim Sturgess Entertainment in Video RRP: £19.99 EDV9640 Certificate: 18 Available 23 November 2009

The United States still draws people from across the globe all looking for the American dream, the problem these days is that joining in is almost impossible so many resort to illegally entering the country. Max Brogan (Harrison Ford) is a border cop whose views of morality and fairness are continually being challenged by the role he has to undertake...

Crossing Over (2009 - 1 hr, 48 min, 26 sec) is a multi-thread story written, directed and co-produced by Wayne Kramer about the lengths that people will go to gain entry into the States, from prostitution, to pretending to be Jewish, to crime.

The film stars Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd and Cliff Curtis and is an odd experience for non American audiences. Given their lack of a supportive social system I was at a loss to know why many of the characters would go to such lengths to gain entry, though given the joyless gravitas that the director imbues the film this is obviously an issue very close to the American heart.

If the film suffers from anything it is the single vision of the writer/director and his over earnest attempt to bring this problem to the fore. The film is only saved by Harrison Ford’s solid performance as some of the supporting cast are very weak. The film also lacks balance making it feel more like a piece of exploitation rather than a serious attempt to tackle the issues surrounding immigration.

Audio options for the film are either stereo or 5.1 with English subtitles, the disc contains no extras. A film for Ford fans only I feel.

5

Charles Packer