Rating of
2.5/4
Couple of good stories, it's okay
patjohnson76 - wrote on 09/12/09
Not a bad film, probably could have been better. It includes several stories related to immigration in LA from several perspectives, some which intersect, but most stand alone. A couple of the stories don't hold much interest (an immigrant tries to con his way into working for a Jewish center, while his girlfriend tries to get a permanent visa by sleeping with an agent), but others, including an Islamic high schooler in trouble for an essay that's interpreted as sympathetic to the 9/11 terrorists and Harrison Ford as an agent trying to find a child's mother, have a great punch. In fact, there is surprising work here from Ford, who does some of his strongest acting in a long time.
Sadly, the film was dumped in a few theaters after many edits. Sean Penn, in fact, is completely cut from the film. Had the film been balanced out with all strong stories, it probably would have done better, but it's worth checking out for the two stories I mentioned above.
