The Border tackles a subject that has always been in the news, illegal immigrants crossing the southern border of the US. Jack Nicholson plays Charlie Smith, a INS agent from LA who moves to El Paso to work Border Patrol. His motivation is to appease his young wife, who wants a better quality of life than the trailer they live in in LA. They, move and buy a nice little house. His wife wants swimming pools and waterbeds and he soon realizes he will need to earn extra money. Enter a fellow Border Patrol agent, Cat, played by Harvey Keitel. Cat is involved with a human trafficker and makes extra money arranging safe passage into the US for those who pay. Cats a bad guy (Keitel fans will not be disappointed) Charlie eventually gets involved with this activity and learns most agents are apathetic about their job and take bribes as well.
Charlie ends up developing a bond with a young brother and sister from Mexico who he runs into regularly at the border. He is torn between being a corrupt agent and his conscientious feelings toward the young Mexicans. The woman also has a young baby, that is taken from her and sold on the black market. This sets up a third act where Charlie works to repair his damaged morals.
So there's a lot going on in this movie. The problem is the screenplay comes off a little half-baked. There are scenes that look like they are really going somewhere but the writer just ends the dialogue and moves the film onto the next scene. Particularly scenes between Charlie and his wife. Another scene in a bar where Charlie is alone and a female bar patron starts a conversation with him. It is just used a transitional scene and had no substance. Missed opportunity by writers to offer more dimension to Charlie. I found myself wanting to know more about all of these characters (all of whom are played well by the actors).
Its not a bad movie, but with the actors they had and the story, it came off a bit contrived.
Pros: Nicholsons subdued performance. That gritty late 70s/early 80s movie feel.
Cons: Story and script seem unfinished. Some unnecessary gore that seems out of place in this movie.
Charlie ends up developing a bond with a young brother and sister from Mexico who he runs into regularly at the border. He is torn between being a corrupt agent and his conscientious feelings toward the young Mexicans. The woman also has a young baby, that is taken from her and sold on the black market. This sets up a third act where Charlie works to repair his damaged morals.
So there's a lot going on in this movie. The problem is the screenplay comes off a little half-baked. There are scenes that look like they are really going somewhere but the writer just ends the dialogue and moves the film onto the next scene. Particularly scenes between Charlie and his wife. Another scene in a bar where Charlie is alone and a female bar patron starts a conversation with him. It is just used a transitional scene and had no substance. Missed opportunity by writers to offer more dimension to Charlie. I found myself wanting to know more about all of these characters (all of whom are played well by the actors).
Its not a bad movie, but with the actors they had and the story, it came off a bit contrived.
Pros: Nicholsons subdued performance. That gritty late 70s/early 80s movie feel.
Cons: Story and script seem unfinished. Some unnecessary gore that seems out of place in this movie.