Crossing Over
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: February 27, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
15
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Crossing Over is not a success but make no mistake: There is great drama to be found in these streets. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
There is undoubtedly a good movie in the varied experiences of American newcomers. But it would need to involve sagas more urgent and more original. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
A disappointing picture that suffers from all manner of ills: Both the direction and the dialogue are stiff and awkward, and Kramer -- who also wrote the script -- crams too many not-believable-enough subplots into the movie's "Crash"-style construction. Yet Crossing Over is an interesting failure. Read full review
50
PremiereStaff (Not credited)
The controversial subject matter will undoubtedly hit close to home for many people, but a few genuinely uncomfortable scenes will either provoke the audience into serious thought or just cause them to leave the theater angry. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The movie expresses honest concern for the plight of so many newcomers to America, legal or illegal. What it lacks is moment-to-moment credibility. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
If Crossing Over is less self-congratulatory than "Crash" about confronting its designated problem, it's just as inept at dramatizing the complex ways that problem unites and divides us. Here every cause is something you can wear around your neck. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Had Crossing Over chosen to tell one of them well, rather than seven badly, it would have made for a fine movie. Instead, all we get is a mess of good liberal intentions loosely anchored to a mass of pure Hollywood hokum. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
A busy, Crash-like complex of LA stories, each hammering home the injustice of our immigration law. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Crossing Over is a result of the sledgehammer approach writer-director Wayne Kramer (Running Scared, The Cooler) takes to his subject matter -- the same heavy-handed tactics that earned "Crash" three Oscars. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Some will win and some will lose their encounters with unbending American bureaucracy, but all deserve better, which should leave viewers eager for an even-handed take on this issue crossing over into disappointment. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
For all the bludgeoning insistence of Kramer's contrived plots and blunt direction, there's not much conviction to the outrage. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Writer-director Wayne Kramer adds what could be called mainstream threads to his messy script, but the result is simplistic across the board. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
If Mr. Kramer's outrage felt honest, his film would be easier to respect. But time and again, he undermines his own righteousness by pumping up the violence and stripping down his talent. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The latticework of social meaning that makes up Crossing Over is ultimately a flimsy structure that pays lip service to liberal values while only occasionally inventing anything of dramatic significance. Read full review
40
EmpireSimon Braund
Being over-stuffed and heavy-handed are not even Crossing Over’s biggest problems. That dubious honour goes to an absolute failure to address its nominal subject-matter in any meaningful way. Read full review
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