Review of Crossing Over (2009) by Jarle H — 24 May 2009

The critics are just too busy being "critical" to look very far beyond their own cynically refined noses. It's not just a movie with a storyline and characters - it's a story with its feet in the realities of living (as all good stories are).

Is it overblown? Perhaps just a little, but not enough to ruin the stories and the film overall. As far as the coincidental connections are concerned, well, coincidences are by their nature unexpected. To say that they were in any way contrived is to attribute far too great an importance to them in the story.

For me, this film is about what happens to people when they come smack up against a soulless system. It's a call to compassion and awareness, perhaps to activism, lest this country we all love (the USA) slip farther into callousness and inhumanity. I think it's an important message, one we need to hear again and again, whether it's looked at through the lens of immigration or any other situation where one's life becomes enmeshed with the government.

I liked this film, and I think you will too.