The Border (1982)

Too much of everything

Too many fans seem to be blown away

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Dry and uninspired "The Border" escapes from being weak thankful to some good performances and some good moments. But it's hard, tiring and not engaging movie about an honest border cop (Jack Nicholson) dealing with a practically whole corrupt force who smuggles illegal Mexican immigrants, drugs and gets an awful lot of money with this. Charlie, Nicholson's character, only enters in the game to satisfy his compulsive and big spender wife, who wants to live in a dream by buying stuff. But Charlie also wants to help a Mexican girl (Elpidia Carillo) her younger brother and her son to accomplish their prosperity in this new land, trying to compensate his lack of good deeds now that he's part of a dangerous system that also involves dealers and mercenaries. Best thing was to make the bad cops as more likable folks than the blasé anti-hero. Probably because they were made as simple as possible, people to get ahead in a system that allows you to do that and they never threatened or treated Charlie differently after he turned down their offers, at first. It all changes when Charlie cannot look himself in the mirror disgusted with this situation and people start getting murdered. They are very seductive up to a certain point, and that made the movie more bearable, won't say enjoyable because it staggered frequently with some of its dramatic moments and relatively enjoyable action sequences. Its lack of purpose is upsetting just as much as the mixture of drama and thriller - only reaching memorable peaks with the climatic ending and when the baby is kidnapped. The privileged look given by foreign directors of privileged countries (in this case, the British Tony Richardson) is always one dimensional and clichéd, never trying to be more than just a romanticized copy of reality - see my review of "Crossing Over" as well. And there's so much more to be explored here instead of just giving Charlie investigating everything or seeing his wife living this costly dream of fun barbecues, water bed and stuff. We should be able to relate a little more with the immigrant characters, hear their voices and wishes, give more substance instead of poor folks who want to live a better life - which is true - running away (as sort of pointed out) from earthquakes. Despite its troubles, "The Border" offers a good performance from Nicholson and an outstanding Harvey Keitel as Charlie's "best buddy" who invites the good cop to a world of possibilities and illicit acts as well. At the end of day, you have something good from this film. 6/10

the movie starts with the scene of a cathedral being hit by an earthquake, and that's the first time you will see the young mom with her kid which is going to play an important role in this movie. there are more than one phrase i remember, like "some people are too stupid to let a gravel roll down a mountain" (translated from the German audio track), thus said the officer being played by keitel, meaning not to mess with unimportant people, and "uniform means, all do look alike". Then one day the young mom and the officer meet each other, but she does not trust him, but Cat says, she is flirting with you. What i liked about it was the true language that seems to be taken right off the mouth of existing people, and if you watch this movie, you may think, this is a story written by life itself.- there are at least three more scenes worth mentioning- one guy whom they promised to put at large was found dead on the Mexican side of the border, the scene when smith is being beaten up in a bodega in Mexico, which could have changed his mind not to ask too many questions, the argument with his wife about spending too much money, and finally, bringing the baby to its mom. in this argument with his wife he says "when they start substracting the interest rates from my income you won't be able to buy even a women's hygiene article", so he gives the audience a realistic estimation of what he expects from life. finally smith thinks about Cat who just want to make profit by his position no matter how poor the people are who want to immigrate into the us, and the thought of the young mom who is separated from her baby is pursuing him so much, he decides to "do at least once something good" in his life. so, i let the characters speak for themselves to give you an impression, even it's been quite a while since i was watching this movie for the last time. the only question is why i gave only 8 and not ten out of ten? it's because i don't know if it was based on a true story or just a result of well-knitted plot.

Border patrol guard Charlie Smith (a splendid and understated performance by Jack Nicholson) struggles to stay on the right side of the law, but ultimately succumbs to the pressure and corruption around him. Charlie goes on the take and helps his ruthless partner Cat (Harvey Keitel, who's excellent as usual) smuggle illegal Mexican immigrants across the border into Texas. However, Charlie finally decides to take a stand against the crooked system by helping young mother Maria (beautifully played with moving grace by Elpidia Carrillo) get reunited with her abducted baby. Director Tony Richardson, working from a compelling script by Deric Washburn, Walon Green, and David Freeman, relates the absorbing story at a gradual pace, firmly grounds the narrative in a plausible working class environment, maintains a tough serious tone throughout, and wisely avoids both heavy-handed melodrama and cheap sensationalism. Nicholson's first-rate acting holds the picture together; he really makes the viewer care about Charlie's deep-seated need to do something decent in a rotten world. The rest of the cast are likewise superb, with especially praiseworthy contributions from Valerie Perrine as Charlie's shallow and materialistic wife Marcy, Warren Oates as Charlie's irascible superior Red, Shannon Wilcox as Cat's brash spouse Savannah, Jeff Morris as vicious low-life Morris, and Mike Gomez as slimy snitch Manuel. Kudos are also in order for Ric Waite's sharp widescreen cinematography and Ry Cooder's spare harmonic score. An unjustly neglected and affecting sleeper.

1982's "The Border" is clearly not a film classic and it certainly is not one of Jack's best, yet it's far from one of his worst films also. The theme and issue centers around illegal immigration which in 1982 this topic was being portrayed ahead of it's time, as anyone knows over the last several years the issue is a hot button topic. Again Jack Nicholson makes the film with his direct and straight performance. Nicholson is Charlie Smith a guy who's left the police force to become a border guard and in the meantime along with his gold digging and greedy wife(Valerie Perrine)Smith again reunites with a former friend a now ruthless guard(Harvey Keitel). Soon this is not what it appears to be as brought to life is the drug smuggling along the Rio Grande. Charlie must decide whether or not to cross the line as the whole department is running in a foul manner. Overall the action, suspense, and drama is good and Jack's performance made it a must see, as anything with Nicholson makes people pay attention to their screens.