Wayne Kramer Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Wayne Kramer's Crossing Over is a bad movie, but it's not bad in the usual ways. The camerawork doesn't shake, boom mikes don't dip into the frame, and the actors tend to remember their lines. The story moves forward in a reasonably cohesive way. On most levels it even resembles a good movie. In fact, it very closely resembles something that once won an Oscar for Best Picture: Crash (2005). Like that movie, It tells the story of a cross-section of characters in Los Angeles, all of whom are connected in some way to a sticky issue, immigration this time, rather than racism. Harrison Ford leads the way as Max Brogan, an ICE agent whose colleagues often tease him for being a softie. During a raid on a sweatshop, his heart goes out to a woman, Mireya Sanchez (Alice Braga), who claims to have a young son at home. He nearly lets her go, and later regrets his decision not to.

Next up, we get Ashley Judd as Denise Frankel, who is an immigration attorney focused on finding a foster home for a young Nigerian girl; Denise wears a little Africa pendant just to show how much she cares. Her husband is a louse of an INS official, Cole (Ray Liotta). One day, he gets into a car accident outside his office building. The driver of the offending vehicle is an illegal Australian immigrant, the beautiful Claire Shepard (Alice Eve), who has already found work as an actress but whose paperwork has been lost in the system. Cole quickly arranges to help her in exchange for a series of sleazy, sweaty hotel room encounters.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive final poster for Crossing Over, starring Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Jim Sturgess and Ashley Judd. Directed by Wayne Kramer (Running Scared, The Cooler), Crossing Over weaves together several stories about immigrants trying to achieve legal status -- as well as a better life for themselves and their loved ones -- in Los Angeles. The stacked cast should produce a variety of excellent performances (especially for a film released in February), and the Crash-like vibe I'm feeling over this film will definitely appeal to a lot of folks out there. You can check out the full-sized version of this poster by clicking the box below, and the trailer is available over on Moviefone.

Crossing Over hits theaters on February 27.

The Weinsteins always enjoy a bit of controversy when it comes to their films, which is probably why it seems a little odd to see the larger than life Harvey Weinstein keeping so uncharacteristically quiet this time. The Guardian reports that the Weinsteins have been fielding complaints from the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) over a scene in their upcoming immigration drama, Crossing Over. Resulting in writer/director Wayne Kramer making some changes to the screenplay.

The complaint originated with "an actor of Iranian descent not on the project but who read the screenplay took umbrage over the scene, in which an Iranian-American man kills his sister after discovering she has been having an affair with a Latino man." According to the president of the NIAC, the reason they made a formal complaint was that "Honour killings are accepted in some Middle Eastern cultures but not accepted in Iranian culture," and that, "They sometimes happen in remote areas of Iran, but there are no cases of Iranians doing this in the U.S." So far, no one on the production has commented on the revised screenplay or who the actor in question was.

Crossing has an all-star cast that includes; Harrison Ford, Sean Penn, Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd, and neither they or the Weinsteins have commented on the changes, or what took place during discussions with NIAC. But a spokesperson for The Weinstein Co. was quoted as saying, "While we believe strongly in freedom of expression, we also believe in the importance of constructive dialogue between artists and the communities they seek to portray." Maybe in the end, it's just not that big of a deal. Don't most screenplays go through all sorts of changes before they make it to the screen? I guess we'll never know; that is, unless someone starts talking.

Don't worry. Ashley Judd hasn't slid into the wide world of Disney talking dogs, even if she has been dealing with some pesky bugs lately. Her border run is of the adult drama variety -- she's in negotiations to sign onto the Crossing Over cast. Earlier this month, Jessica Barnes alerted us to Harrison Ford's casting in the film, and then Patrick Walsh upped the ante with word that Ray Liotta would be playing the villain. Now, with Judd almost on-board, the film might have its immigration defense attorney who is trying to arrange the adoption of a Nigerian girl.

Crossing is an immigration drama set in Los Angeles. It revolves around a number of immigrants from different counties who are trying to gain legal status in the city. The movie will dive into border issues, document fraud, asylum, green cards, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and culture clashing. In other words, the whole immigration kit and caboodle. Writer/director Wayne Kramer is in charge of the feature, and while we already have a handful of big names, Variety says that more are expected to be added since some, like Sean Penn, only have brief roles. I would imagine that this will go into the ensemble Crash route, where there's lots of stories that sort of intertwine, and no main star. (If that's the case, Liotta could be a partial villain, or one of a few.) Whatever the case, Cinematical is sure to have more information soon, since Kramer plans to start filming later this month in the city of angels.

I love Ray Liotta, but he's never quite gotten the respect he deserves. Somehow, the guy has never been nominated for an Oscar, despite great performances in Narc, Blow, Something Wild, and especially Goodfellas, my favorite film of all time. Part of the reason may be the equal amount of stinkers he's appeared in, although he usually makes even the crummiest roles memorable. Hell, he was hilarious in a Jennifer Love Hewitt movie! He's already been onscreen twice this year, in Smokin' Aces and Wild Hogs, and it looks like for his next project he's going for something a lot more substantial.

The film is Crossing Over, and it stars none other than Sean Penn and Harrison Ford (Jessica speculated a few weeks back that this film could delay the release date of Indiana Jones 4, but hopefully that won't be the case). So who will Mr. Crazy Laugh play? According to Liotta, it's "a really really good movie...It's very much in the vein of Traffic and Babel. It involves border control. It's another bad guy...It's a really good part, and you know, even if they're bad, you don't condone them but you try to make them human beings." Liotta's character in the film takes advantage of a young woman who wants to be an actress and doesn't have a green card. "He uses her for his enjoyment," says Liotta. Wayne Kramer is writing and directing Crossing Over, which started out as a 35mm short. I liked Kramer's The Cooler and Running Scared had one of the creepiest set pieces in recent movies (if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about). I'm curious to see what he does with more serious material.

There is probably no movie that is more anxiously awaited than Indiana Jones 4. But, it seems like every couple of weeks, we get word that the project is moving forward and then we get another tidbit that could blow the whole thing out of the water. For example, we're promised a trailer this Thanksgiving, and then we get news of a possible bump in the road -- and it could be a big one. Variety reported that Harrison Ford has signed to star alongside Sean Penn and Ray Liotta in Crossing Over, (No, it's not the John Edward story) an immigration drama. Described as the "Traffic of illegal immigration," the film was written by Wayne Kramer (The Cooler), who is also slated to direct. Maybe Ford hopes that this one will make up for passing on Traffic the first time.

Now here is where the problems could start -- the shooting date for Crossing Over is this month and the start date for Indiana Jones 4 is June. Immediately bringing to mind the possibility of a delayed start date for Jones. Everything seemed to be falling into place, with steady casting announcements -- despite the big question mark hanging over the return of Sean Connery, and a solid start date. I hope Ford is planning on using some serious time management skills to make sure he is ready for filming in June with his fedora in hand.

• Firewall - Like Rip Van Winkle with a $25 million per picture deal, nap-addled gruff boy Harrison Ford has seen his career hibernate for more than a decade now, scoring hit upon forgettable hit. Ford's latest variation on a theme is, like the bulk of his post-Indiana Jones filmography, predictable formula fare, and therein lies its broad appeal. In what ultimately feels like a diluted remake of Ron Howard's 1996 thriller, Ransom, he plays a bank security expert whose family is held captive in exchange for his aid in electronically liberating $100 million. Bad guy Paul Bettany sneers and jeers so much that we know from the moment he turns up that Ford is going to heroically beat him and his dirty, dirty bastards, and our belief that goodness triumphing over ee-vil will be renewed. Able British stalwart Richard Loncraine, who directed Bettany in Wimbledon, paints this one by-the-numbers, and anyone looking for what might be their last Harrison Ford fix before Indy 4 (and presumed retirement) will get what they paid for, though very little more.

I wanted to see Running Scared because I was so fond of  The Cooler, writer-director Wayne Kramer's previous film.  The Cooler was a character-based suspense film in which both the characterizations and the suspense were handled impressively.

Running Scared did not begin well. It started with one of those teaser scenes that precede the rest of the story told as flashback, which seems to be the trend in crime films these days (probably started by The Usual Suspects). The teaser scene preceded a violent, bloody shootout in which one guy was shot in the crotch. Five minutes into the movie, I was disappointed and thought I'd made a mistake.

Fortunately, the next hour or so redeemed the movie greatly, and I was absorbed by the story and action until the end. Like The Cooler, Running Scared had at least one too many endings; the extra endings in The Cooler fit into its overall theme of luck, but the endings in Running Scared were cliched and manipulative. In particular, the very last scene was entirely unnecessary and somewhat irritating.

The Weinstein Company has reportedly hired Thomas Jane to play a dead cop. Seriously. According to Variety, the brothers have agreed to produce Evilseek, a screenplay by Wayne Kramer (who will also direct) about a cop who is "so demoralized by the handiwork of a serial killer that he commits suicide," and Jane is already attached. Doesn't really sound like much a role so far, right? I mean, Kevin Costner got cut out of The Big Chill when he tried to play a corpse, and Weekend at Bernie's didn't exactly lead to a dramatic upswing in Terry Kiser's career. But there's a very weird little wrinkle in this story that means Jane won't have to just lie around, looking dead: for some reason, Satan himself takes control of his corpse, and proceeds to use him to solve the crime (with the help, because this is Hollywood, of "a promiscuous 15-year-old daughter, [and] a lesbian partner").

While I'm completely mystified as to why the devil would get all bothered about stopping a serial killer (perhaps I'm unclear on the concept of Evil), I'm totally intrigued - particularly if Dead Devil Jane has special powers and/or glowing eyes.

[via Dark Horizons]

New Line has put the first six minutes of the upcoming Paul Walker flick, Running Scared, online for your viewing pleasure before the film hits February 24th. Because of the violence, nudity and foul language, the footage is restricted and so you first must register your email, birth-date and password before moving forward, meaning those of you under the age of consent are out of luck here.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the opening sequence. With its creative editing and gritty look, this one appears to have some legs on it. Written and directed by Wayne Kramer (The Cooler), Paul Walker plays a low level mob guy in charge of disposing of the "hot"weapons after a hit. However, when his son and friend stumble upon one of the weapons used in a cop shooting, the friend takes it and uses it to kill his abusive stepfather. From there it falls on Walker to correct the entire situation or else he won't live to see the next day.

If you're on the fence with this one, I'd suggest checking out the footage before making a decision. Well, unless you're one of those people who like to go in cold. Running Scared also stars Chazz Palminteri, Vera Farmiga and up-and-comer Cameron Bright.