Charlie Smith (Jack Nicholson) is a border patrol officer that moves with his wife Marcy from a trailer to a duplex in El Paso with his best friend and colleague Cat (Harvey Keitel). Since Marcy buys lots of expensive items Charlie is introduced by Cat to a human smuggling operation and accepts to join. In the meanwhile a woman is separated from her child, and after lots of chases and investigations it will succedd to reunite them.
When THE BORDER began it looked good, but as it progressed it looked like it took a detour to badness. Nicholson has never been grouchier than here, and as time passes, his character becomes more and more hateful to the point that you won't care about him. Harvey Keitel was decent and in one of his rare likeable ''bad guy'' roles, while most of the supporting characters were annoying and bland. And some situations were cringy, such as Charlie going in a bar at night, being beaten and then thrown out like garbage; or when Charlie returns and yells to his wife because she cares only about expensive items such as water beds (and he falls in the new swimming pool).
Overall, a missed opportunity. On paper it looked good, but combine an irritable lead, supporting characters that are like cardboard cutouts and bad editing... it makes you wonder if the director even cared if the movie had to be good. And if that is what you look for in a movie, then THE BORDER is for you.
When THE BORDER began it looked good, but as it progressed it looked like it took a detour to badness. Nicholson has never been grouchier than here, and as time passes, his character becomes more and more hateful to the point that you won't care about him. Harvey Keitel was decent and in one of his rare likeable ''bad guy'' roles, while most of the supporting characters were annoying and bland. And some situations were cringy, such as Charlie going in a bar at night, being beaten and then thrown out like garbage; or when Charlie returns and yells to his wife because she cares only about expensive items such as water beds (and he falls in the new swimming pool).
Overall, a missed opportunity. On paper it looked good, but combine an irritable lead, supporting characters that are like cardboard cutouts and bad editing... it makes you wonder if the director even cared if the movie had to be good. And if that is what you look for in a movie, then THE BORDER is for you.