The director of The Cooler tries a bigger canvas: Crossing Over is Wayne Kramer's take on nothing less than the vast subject of illegal immigration; coming at the topic from a dozen or so directions. Hefting the most star power is Harrison Ford; scurrying about as an L.A. Immigration and Customs officer whose conscience is sore from having trundled so many illegals back over the border--now he's worried about the child of a particularly vulnerable woman (Alice Braga). Cliff Curtis plays Ford's partner; an Iranian-American whose family is not as assimilated as his casual manner might suggest. There's a bit of pulp swagger in other sections of the picture; as Kramer tries to channel his inner Sam Fuller: for instance; an Immigration official (Ray Liotta at his piggiest) coerces an Australian actress (Alice Eve) into a sex-for-green-card affair; and an adolescent Arab-American girl (Summer Bishil; from Towelhead) gives a cheeky speech at school that puts her family under suspicion as possible terrorists. Other strands of this scenario aren't as urgent; as Ashley Judd dreams of adopting the African child she's tending; and Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe); as a British non-believer; tries to convince Immigration authorities of his commitment to working at a Jewish school. The movie's single best scene has him "auditioning" to convince a rabbi of his commitment to Judaism; a funny moment that also carries an echo of the history of Jewish exodus. The movie has a tendency to bash from one thing to the next; too neatly connecting its Crash-like plotlines; like a really spirited first draft of a better movie. --Robert Horton