moonspinner55 Review of The Border

The Border (1982)

Interesting cast and director, but slow-going film is a misfire...

[5/10 · 28 January 2007]

British filmmaker Tony Richardson would seem the least likely director to helm a drama about an angst-ridden Texas border patrolman, yet he manages to set an intriguing mood for this film...but also keeps a languid pace which may send viewers packing before the story has even taken shape. Jack Nicholson plays Charlie Smith, a border agent who goes against the grain to help a young Hispanic woman retrieve her stolen baby. Nicholson is solid, and the supporting players (Harvey Keitel, Valerie Perrine, Warren Oates among them) are exceptional, but the picture is enervated and rather ill-at-ease, with plot-points muffled by the static handling. ** from ****