NEW Crossed Over (DVD)

When writer Beverly Lowry suffers a crushing depression following the tragic hit-and-run death of her son, she turns inward. In the aftermath, however, even as she sustains herself by enshrining her lost son by never touching or removing his possessions, she slowly begins to enlarge her world, bit by bit, as she studies news articles about a death-row inmate whose story intrigues her.

Meeting for the first time and separated by the plexiglass divider, the two women appear to be divided also by their values, goals, needs and life experiences. How can two such women find common ground? But unexpectedly, a bond develops - at first tentatively - as Beverly continues to visit Karla Faye Tucker and learns her story. Probing the psyche of a drug-addicted woman driven by the overwhelming need of that desire somehow shines a light for Beverly on the darkness of the human condition, a place she has become familiar with in the months following her son's death.

Then Beverly finds a purpose, as she seeks to gain some kind of clemency for the inmate. She makes appeals to all the authorities, hoping to commute the sentence to life imprisonment rather than death.

Throughout their quest for redemption, the two women share and grow and help each other heal, even as the outcome for a change in Karla Faye's sentence seems unlikely.

Diane Keaton shines as Beverly Lowry, while Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance as the doomed death-row inmate lends sympathy to the character.

Based on a true story,Crossed Over is an unforgettable movie.

By Laurel-Rain Snow
Author of: Web of Tyranny, etc.

I love Jennifer Jason Leigh, this is mostly why I purchased this movie although I had not heard of it before. Diane Keaton plays a writer, Beverly, who is going through depression and overwhelming grief fueled by the loss of her teenage son. Jennifer Jason Leigh is Karla Faye Tucker, a woman placed on death row for murder. Beverly starts visiting Karla in prison after more or less "tracking" her through newspaper articles, etc. They are clearly two different people and it seems at first the entire thing is not going to work out. However, as they start talking and listening to each other, the relationship grows and they find commonalities, understanding of differences and sympathy for each other. Visiting Karla becomes sort of a therapy for Diane Keaton as she finds Karla to "get her" and understand her in ways others have failed. Karla also finds a friend in Beverly who eventually tries to appeal for Karla's pardon from certain death. At first I thought I was going to hate the Karla Faye Tucker character - I thought she would be miserable and hard and remorseless. The opposite was actually true. The movie shows Karla Faye Tucker on the path to becoming someone better even though she knows she will never leave prison and will ultimately die. There are points in the movie when you think the friendship will end, but the bond is strong and the two women find forgiveness in each others faults. Part of Diane Keaton's Beverly character wants to save Karla Faye Tucker to sort of repair what she feels was failure towards her son. In other words, if she couldn't save her troubled son, she was going to have a chance by trying to save Karla. Things don't work out all rosy, but there is definitely closure and you realize just how worthwhile the relationship between the women had been. I liked this movie, but it wasn't a favorite for me. Maybe the passion was all wrong or I was expecting something different from Jennifer Jason Leigh, or maybe Diane Keaton just seemed to be playing the same sort of role as usual. When the movie referred to Karla Faye Tucker as a "killer" or something like that, I was expecting a movie about a serial killer with a disturbing core who went on a drug induced rampage. To me, this movie really did not capture that, it almost made Karla Faye look like a bystander who, confused by her drug consumption, did a horrible act. The committment to the character was not enough conviction to really explain to the audience who Karla Faye Tucker was and exactly what she did. We do get glimpses of Diane Keaton reading over details of the case, but she doesn't really share much with us. She just decides to stop seeing Karla for a little while which doesn't last. I found it hard to believe that Karla's life in prison was that "peachy". She falls in love with a pastor who ends up marrying her and seems to have a ton of leeway for someone on death row. I guess I wanted more grit, especially from one of my most favorite actresses. It's okay, you can watch it, but I suggest if this subject interests you to read more about it.

Normally I try to write more, but this film was neural. The typical story of a death and a mother seeking to find a reason for it resulting in the usual family disintegration and hopelessness of some sort of satisfaction. She was not that likeable a character and the "pick-axe" murderer had her moments but was still all screwed up. The movie kept my attention but not a real page turner. Same-o same-o story like with nothing really new. SORRY!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews  4.0 out of 5 stars