Bordertown (2007) Reviews

• Excellent movie about corruption and injustice

  akunau2008-03-10

  Reading the negative reviews of this movie was kind of shocking, really. This heartbreaking story was one that needed to be told, and with all the meaningless crap that is peddled out of Hollywood, this was like a breath of fresh air. Perhaps "Bordertown" won't get 10 Oscar nominations or whatever, but I enjoyed watching Jennifer Lopez unravel the mystery of what happened to Eva, the young girl attacked, left for dead, and miraculously survived. I thought the performances were courageous and not overdone, and the direction and cinematography was great. The price we pay in our humanity to get lower prices on electronics and other goods, and to line the pockets of corruption wherever it is found, is much too high. I wish more movies like "Bordertown" were being made...it is quite sad to me that movies like this (also Erin Brokovich, North Country, Silkwood, as well as others) go straight to DVD and so many other movies with no message, just a grandiose budget and special effects, are more important than those with something to say.

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• Shades Of Silkwood

  Lechuguilla2011-10-16

  "It isn't free trade; it's slave trade; it's a ... scam", yells investigative reporter Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez), to her newspaper boss George Morgan (Martin Sheen). They're arguing about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the villain in this film about the injustices of NAFTA border factories toward their women workers, and in particular about the border town of Juarez, on the Rio Grande, across from El Paso, Texas. The script's characters and plot are fictional. But they are set against a backdrop of a real-life situation that has been going on for years. Poorly paid young Mexican women are raped and killed in these NAFTA border towns. Nobody really cares, least of all the cold corporations that employ the women. In "Bordertown", George Morgan sends Lauren to Juarez to get a story. She does. But what she finds is that the real killers are more powerful and shadowy than she imagined. It's a situation not unlike what Karen Silkwood faced when she tried to investigate a nuclear plant. The film is thus highly political. Its message overpowers the story. Most viewers will sympathize with the message. But what about the story? The characters are not entirely believable. For example, the young Mexican woman whom Lauren befriends can't seem to speak English when they first meet. And Lauren says she can't speak Spanish. Yet later, the young woman and Lauren chat up a storm both in English and Spanish, a dialogue necessity, no doubt, to placate viewers. The plot's climax is Hollywood sensationalized, which detracts from the authenticity of the message. Color cinematography is very high contrast, which works well, given the good vs. evil theme. Prod design and costumes are quite realistic. The filming in Mexico gives credibility to the story, though filming entirely in Juarez was not possible owing to the physical danger. Acting is acceptable. Lopez does a fine job. My impression is that "Bordertown" was not given a proper theatrical release here in the U.S. because of its tough political message, which speaks volumes, if true. But despite some imperfections in its script, the film deserves to be seen by viewers, and specifically because of that potent underlying message.

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• Who isn't paying attention?

  jobeblanc2007-03-28

  Made as a sort of political commentary for free trade agreements - NAFTA (North American Free Trade) - that was a mistake, someone got really sidetracked! This is a movie very worth seeing, and a story that is screeching for a gesture of humanity. It stands on its own without any need for appeal to populist causes. This a story and wants to be a film, a dramatized documentary about sordid evil human exploitation. What has been happening in Juarez, Mexico for the past decade may have been helped by some political and commercial developments, but the origin and the result is pure deathly evil. Pay attention. The first nearly 50% of 200 votes about this film on IMDb were "1". Eh ... one? Think here for a moment . . . the story was and continues to be viciously true, the depiction is very accurate. Over 4000 (!) women in this US/Mexican border town have gone missing, and over 400 have been found dead !! In just a few years. This has been going on for a decade and has been repeatedly reported throughout the world's press. Dedicated reporters and honest police in this town have been killed in numbers scraping to reveal the truth, and still the vacuum of female death continues. For credibility, Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Lopez have had so so ratings, but have had hits as well as misses, but have not been known to be lacking in integrity. Greg Nava, writer and director has had some strong directing with some powerful histories (6+ ratings most of the time.) Martin Sheen, rarely misses. So, should the first 40% of the votes really be "1" ?? Were all these cinema professionals so off base, or is an internet group subverting the IMDb voting system en mass?? Well, this is the question that probably is begging the integrity of not just this film, but even the IMDb. Guys we need an investigation here. Please check folks, this leads to the very heart of what 10,000's and perhaps 100,000's of IMDb fans trust in. (And in the case of this film, 100's are dying for.) For the film, Jennifer is pretty good, and Antonio has a few but not so many good lines. Nothing is spectacular, but the story and the cinematography is on. The script and direction could have been much better. Objectively and even from an informed perspective - I've seen 100's of films each year for nearly 50 years,worked in the industry, and have called about 80% of the winners for the top 5 or six film awards ceremonies (by award criteria/bias) for the past 15 years with better than 85% accuracy - this movie is not a popularly rated film so far, per 388 "objective" persons surveyed viewers. But take a look and tell whether the package rates a 4.8 ! I don't believe that this film rates a "10" any more than it rates a "1" or a "4.8". So based on that ludicrousy, I vote "10" until the investigation resolves the nearly 20% of early volume of "1" votes. It is important that honest and committed film viewers and consciences, vote to give this movie, issue, and the IMDb a dignified rating so that the curious uninformed will be properly attracted to an awareness of this better than average film, that portrays this horrific reality.

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• Shocking....

  ot_lowrider2007-04-30

  Its hard to comment on some "true story" movies! This story...true story...it's so shocking and scary and really makes you ask yourself "in what kind of world we are living?".... and that's a good part! It will scares you but it will show you some real life tragedy that happened and that will happen... and it could happen to anyone! You should be aware! So this is really shocking tragedy about brutal life of females on Mexican/USA boarder! And its true!!! So after getting me shocked its really hard to comment on acting, scenes, etc. But I must do that because this is no documentary! And from movie aspect... well... it's not that much! I must admit that Jeniffer Lopez is much better actress than on her first movies but everyone else.... Antonio Banderas has just a short role, nothing special and other actors are not some famous... at least not to me! They are good but.... This movie is not for an award but I recommend you to watch it, because it's a true story and it shows hard living, bad politics, corruption, trying to stay alive and you are on your own....... (sorry on my bad English)

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• important issue, bad movie

  Schokoriese2007-02-15

  (SPOILERS in the last part of this review) How does one slam a movie with a good conscience if he thinks the movies' topic is very important? And yet there is not other chance than to criticize the filmmakers for the poor work they've done. That is 'Bordertown'. At the Berlin film festival - where 'Bordertown' premiered - director Greg Nava (who also wrote the script), co-producer Barbara Martinez and Jennifer Lopez (who also produced) left no doubt how important the movie is to them. A website that accompanies the movie is supposed to raise money for the people in Juarez, special screenings should do the same. Plus they hope that 'Bordertown' will bring attention to the killings of so many women at the border between Mexico and the USA. And maybe this attention will help preventing more murders and maybe even help solving some cases. After all, according to Nava 400 dead bodies were found throughout the years, 3 alone in the last 14 days. 4000 women are still missing. And it's not just that nobody cares for those women (they have no 'economical value', Nava said in the press conference, and it's true: They make 4 bucks a day, and even enough woman would be happy to take the jobs). Apparently there are people who didn't want the the film makers to touch the subject: Nava received death threats, an assistant who worked with the second unit in Juarez got beaten up by police (according to Martinez). Somebody broke into her hotel room, and when this "somebody" realized they are not going to stop filming he stole the cameras. Main part of the film were not shot in Juarez, but in more supportive Mexican towns and in factories who also were helpful. 'Bordertown' is a movie that deserves to be supported. And still it is heart breaking how bad the movie is. It's not just bad, it's also at times pathetic and not very logical. Lopez plays a journalist Lauren who is sent to Juarez to write an article about the murders. She used to live in the area, she has a former lover Diaz (Banderas) there who runs a newspaper in Juarez. He is reluctant to help her, until a girl shows up - Eva (Maya Zapata) who got raped but survived because the guys who did it to her believed she was dead. Eva is able to identify the killers, but this puts her and Lauren in serious danger. Still Lauren continues her research... (possible SPOILERS ahead:) 'Bordertown' is a Hollywood movie which is supposed to make money at ticket offices. Let's forgive the film makers that a lot of the movie consists of 'run and hide' action typical to these kind of thrillers. But it is simply stupid that Lauren eventually is considering to give up her career because of the tragic events. Nava should have made Lopez a pretty standard journalist, which would have made the movie way less pathetic. He also couldn't resist his urge to give Lauren a background which is pretty laughable. And some of the research work she is doing is just unbelievable. (end of possible SPOILERS) Obviously the movie was so important to Nava he failed in the end. A good journalist should never be too involved with the topic he is working on. A good filmmaker neither, it seems. Still: If this movies actually helps changing things in Juarez, if it makes same movie-goers research a bit more - thumbs up to 'Bordertown'. I personally would recommend reading about the killings though.

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