Borderline
Jeb Maynard is a patrolman guarding the U.S.-Mexican border, whose partner and buddy Scooter has just been murdered. Maynard knows that a smuggler of illegal aliens is responsible for Scooter's death, but the feds insist that drug dealers committed the crime.
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- Cast:
- Charles Bronson , Bruno Kirby , Bert Remsen , Michael Lerner , Kenneth McMillan , Ed Harris , Karmin Murcelo
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Reviews
You won't be disappointed!
Too much of everything
Absolutely Brilliant!
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
One of the few feature films to have illegal aliens Borderline has Charles Bronson in charge of a border patrol station in Arizona. It's a thankless task he has because as is made clear a lot of these illegals are just pursuing the American dream. And why not? They read about the Statue Of Liberty and if they get to New York they see the lovely Ms. Liberty in our harbor with those words about "bring me your tired, your poor.....etc." But what Borderline says is that illegal smuggling is a more organized racket than we think and Bronson has no doubt that it was those smuggling illegals who murdered his partner Wilford Brimley and a young Mexican kid Panchito Gomez. The FBI says it was drugs, Bronson says it was human smugglers. Therein lies the story.Although he did some television and a few bits in some feature films, Borderline gives an 'introducing' credit to Ed Harris who plays a former Marine and killer of Brimley. He's not at the top of the villainy food chain here, but his skills make him a dangerous foe for Bronson. He's a coldblooded piece of work.Also note Bruno Kirby as a new trainee from New York as if that speech pattern would have him from anywhere else.One thing I didn't like was the business where Bronson goes undercover with a group of illegals using Karmin Murcelo the mother of the deceased boy as a guide because she is Spanish speaking of course. In real life he would have taken her information and I'm sure the Border Patrol has any number of Spanish speaking female agents for such work. Just ridiculous.It's a complex topic, but Borderline dealing with smuggling illegal aliens will find favor with Charles Bronson fans.
Borderline (1980)*** (out of 4)Jeb Maynard (Charles Bronson) works the U.S.-Mexico border and is dealing with a large number of illegal immigrants sneaking into the country. One day his partner is brutally murdered in the line of duty so Jeb sets out to find who's behind it. The Federal boys thinks it's related to drugs but Jef feels there's another motive.BORDERLINE is a film that never gets discussed. You could gather up a thousand Bronson fans and question them on any movie in his long career and I'd say very few would have even seen this one. It's really too bad because while the movie isn't a complete success it's at least entertaining enough that fans of the actor should give it a chance and especially since it offers him up a different type of role.I'm going to guess this film isn't all that popular because there's really not much of a violent streak to it. There's one brutal murder shown but it's not overly graphic since it's basically just a shotgun blast. I think the 'revenge' aspect people love with Bronson means they want to see him go out and blow away people and that doesn't happen here. Instead what we're treated to is a low-key movie about a simple man trying to solve a murder. There aren't any shoot outs or a high body count.I think the film moves a bit too slow for its own good and there's no question that a higher speed would have helped things. Outside of that I think the film is mostly a success. Bronson turns in yet another quiet but good performance and you can't help but think he liked being able to play a more serious part here. The supporting cast includes a nice turn by Bruno Kirby as well as Wilford Brimley in a small bit. Ed Harris really stands out here as the cold-blooded killer. He doesn't say much but you can feel the coldness of his character just by looking at Harris' eyes.It's doubtful this film will ever have a great number of fans and that's understandable but at the same time more Bronson fans should give it a shot.
"Borderline", admittedly, is fairly undistinguished in terms of presentation. It's passable as an action flick, and entertains reasonably well for 100 minutes. It purports to shed light on the problem of illegal immigration, which in 2015 is more of a hot button issue than ever before. Characters are mostly thinly drawn, but writer Steve Kline and writer / director Jerrold Freedman aren't completely insensitive to the plight of the good, honest, hard workers like Elena Morales (Karmin Murcelo) who feel they have no choice.The movie does benefit from giving its star, Charles Bronson, a worthy adversary: a particularly ruthless and cold blooded smuggler named Hotchkiss (Ed Harris, in the role that "introduced" him), who sealed his fate when he killed Scooter Jackson (Wilford Brimley), one of the co-workers of the Bronson character, Jeb Maynard. Jeb and Scooter are among those on Border Patrol detail, and when Scooter gets murdered, Jeb takes it upon himself to solve the case. He doesn't trust the ignorant agents of the FBI, who think the whole case is about drugs. Jeb must also break in a new employee, Jimmy Fante (Bruno Kirby), an eager beaver rookie sent from NY.What gives "Borderline" some stature today is its truly superior supporting cast. Bronson does what he usually does (which, of course, he is very cool at doing), but it's Harris and others that truly bring this to life. You can't go too wrong reading through this cast list: Bert Remsen, Michael Lerner, Kenneth McMillan, Norman Alden, John Ashton, Charles Cyphers, Virgil Frye, Luis Contreras, et al. Although the environment is very much male-dominated, Ms. Murcelo is appealing and touching as the illegal alien who reluctantly provides Jeb with the assistance that he needs.This is worth noting for a striking music score by Gil Melle and cinematography by the consistently dependable Tak Fujimoto. It *is* enjoyable enough, even if it is formula driven and not too memorable.Seven out of 10.
I remember when I was in grade 8, people where starting to buy VCRs, and owning one was a big deal. Dad rented one, and we picked out movies. Borderline was one of them, I thought it was pretty cool. Watching this film 19 years later I found it predicable, and a little lame. No way his truck could keep up with a Trans Am on the highway, why did the guy, with the T A, go off road where the truck has the edge. My friend Gord mentioned this, and I thought yeah. Anyways, no surprises here, but watchable. 6/10