Second showing - what I've been watching

Apologies to those who read this yesterday. Meant to be posted Mon. today.

 Fall weather of cooler days and nights, though few colors in our trees. If any happen it won't be until mid October.

I watched a controversial movie, with Harrison Ford, last night. I just chanced upon it, listed with my  LG TV's streaming of various movies featuring stars. Don't know how other sources can get it though. 

"Crossing Over"

Wikipedia has this to say:

"2009 American crime drama film written and directed by Wayne Kramer. It follows illegal immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles: dealing with the border, document fraud and extortion, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter-terrorism, and the clash of cultures."

I was interested in the western US culture of early 2000's...since I've only known the southeastern US first hand. Many relatives and friends are much closer to the southern border of our country which offers some kinds of freedom that other countries don't have. I say some kinds of freedom purposefully...for the film shows how an Arab teenager is not allowed in our society to discuss the viewpoint of those who bombed the US on 9/11. 

"Although the film was shot in 2007, it was not released until 2009, and even then only in a limited theatrical run. The film's original running length was 140 minutes, but the film's producer (who had final cut privilege) was convinced to edit the film down to 113 minutes when Harvey Weinstein threatened to release the film straight to DVD and bypass a theatrical release altogether. In many countries outside of the US, the film went straight to DVD anyway."

So Wikipedia indicates why I'd never heard of this film, and my initial conclusion was that it was "controversial."

"The film originally featured a scene in which an Iranian woman is murdered by her brother in an honor killing. Following complaints that the plotline was unrealistic and offensive, the killing was presented as an intended beating which got out of hand, removing the dialogue referring to "honor" and "family honor".^[3]

"Additionally, Sean Penn filmed scenes as an immigration cop. However, his scenes were cut due to the controversy over the honor killing plot, though producer Harvey Weinstein later claimed that Penn's agent requested his scenes be cut out of the film.^[4][5] "

The footnotes refer to:

1.  "'Honour killing' screenplay changed after Iranian complaints". guardian.co.uk. August 3, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
2. ^ Wells, Jeffrey (November 28, 2008). "The Agony of the Kramer". Hollywood Elsewhere. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
3. ^ Grierson, Tim (February 16, 2009). "Crossing Over | Review". Screen International. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

 Since the original script must have been written much earlier than the actual production in 2007, it's is somewhat odd to find out the author had also produced another much earlier, in 1995.

"The film is based on Kramer's similarly titled 1995 short film. He produced the film alongside Frank Marshall."

The 9/11 events must have stimulated him to add all the parts regarding the Arab teenager and her family. 

It was definitely a disturbing movie to watch. I wonder what it would have been like without those 27 minutes that were cut. And the action didn't have that many violent action scenes...mainly when ICE was raiding sweatshops where illegals were working. There's some partial nudity, which is needed as part of various interactions in bedroom scenes. And some fighting and shooting and even Korean gang violence. But I had many commercial interruptions while watching it this way, streaming on my LG TV...so I wasn't exactly caught up in the drama.

So that's the long version of my recommendation of a film which received poor reviews originally. It's still out there, and shows the less than glorious work of our Border Patrol, the many faces of the legal system of gaining citizenship, and the incredible emotions of hope and despair for those trying to gain lives in the US.  The various lives followed in the film represent many aspects of immigration, but mainly highlight how hard it is to become a US citizen. Harrison Ford's own character seems a bit shallow, and we know very little about his personal life...it's inferred that he has none.

But the various immigrant hopefuls do have well constructed characters.