The Border

Jack Nicholson's transition from brilliant character actor to self-parodic superstar happened sometime in the 1980s. 'The Border' is closer to his best 1970s work ('Five Easy Pieces', 'The Last Detail', 'The King Of Marvin Gardens', 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest') than to most of his subsequent output. Two of his best performances in recent years have been in movies directed by Sean Penn ('The Crossing Guard' and 'The Pledge'), and 'The Border' reminds me a lot of those. I wonder if Penn is a fan? The director Tony Richardson made his name with British "kitchen sink" dramas and he brings to this Peckinpah-esque material an empathy for "little people" rarely seen in American movies of the 1980s and '90s. Nicholson gives a superb performance, one of his very best. The two women in his life are played by Valerie Perrine and Elpidia Carrillo. The former is best remembered for her appearance in 'Superman' but has acting chops she has rarely been asked to use (see also 'Lenny' alongside Dustin Hoffman). The latter is best known for appearing in the Arnie action classic 'Predator'. Both of them are surprisingly good in this movie. Harvey Keitel is even better. This is one of his "lost" movies - see also 'Fingers', 'Deathwatch' and 'Copkiller' - and seeing him act alongside Nicholson is a real treat. Add to that one of the final roles by the legendary Warren Oates, who had co-starred with Nicholson fifteen years earlier in Monte Hellman's cult western 'The Shooting', and 'The Border' is essential viewing for film buffs. I think the movie has a few flaws but they are easily overlooked, and repeated viewings reveal its true worth. 'The Border' is a real sleeper, and recommended to fans of intelligent, character based drama.

When one considers the extraordinary acting career of Jack Nicholson, the performances that immediately spring to mind are the likes of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining and even Tim Burton's Batman. They were roles seemingly tailor-made for Nicholson's manic arched eyebrows and devilish grin, but he was capable of so much more when, ironically, doing far less. Arguably, he has never been better than as Charlie Smith, the middle-aged and weary border agent working within a corrupt organisation in El Paso. When we first meet him, he is discussing with the owner of a factory which of his illegal immigrant employees to arrest so he can meet his quota of deportations. He reads the Mexican youths their rights like reading from a shopping list, but they'll be back in a few days. Charlie's job is ineffective and he knows it, and it takes a special actor to pull off indifference and boredom without appearing disinterested.

Every night he returns to his nondescript trailer to eat a TV dinner cooked by his stay-at-home wife Marcy (Valerie Perrine). It is Marcy who convinces Charlie to quit his job as an immigration enforcement officer and move to El Paso, where property is cheaper and a job as a border agent awaits him. To please the wife he has fallen out of love with but nevertheless tolerates, Charlie agrees, and falls in with fellow border agent Cat (Harvey Keitel). Along with his supervisor Red (Warren Oates), Cat runs a human trafficking operation across the border, and wants Charlie to join the payroll. Meanwhile, young Mexican mother Maria (Elpidia Carrillo) attempts to flee into the U.S. with her baby and younger brother after an earthquake decimates her town. When she frequently comes up against the border patrols, Charlie start to sympathise with her situation, as well as growing increasingly weary of his wife's wild spending and his colleagues' abuse of power.

The Border didn't do particularly well on its release and its memory has somewhat faded since, but director Tony Richardson's film packs enough of a punch to warrant a reevaluation. It perhaps arrived too late in a decade when cinema had moved away from the character-driven 70s and more towards visual decadence. Yet The Border could also be released today, and its subject matter would be just as relevant, if not more so. It highlights the problems on both sides, with corruption rife and those caught in the middle treated like dogs, and what little progress has been made in the decades since. Recent films like Sin Nombre and Cartel Land have explored and highlighted the same issues, and the result is always violence upon violence. Richardson, who is better known for his exceptional British works Look Back in Anger, A Taste of Honey, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runnier and Tom Jones (amongst others), directs with little flair but trusts the story to pack enough power on its own. Although it descends into a generic, action-packed climax (which was forced in after test audiences reacted badly to the original ending), The Border deserves another shot, and features a Jack Nicholson at the very top of his game.

This film has been making the TV rounds lately, and that inspired us to go rent this overlooked classic and enjoy it once again. It always stands up, it never lets us down, and it is unjustly overlooked. And Ry Cooder's score is a definite plus.

This is an unabashedly simple movie, much to its credit. And that simplicity includes Jack. Almost all of the critics point out that this is Jack at his "UnJackest". Only one true "Jack" moment, and that is when he dumps the grill into that awful, tacky poolette and exclaims, "Soup's on!". And even that moment is appropriate to the situation, hilarious, and much needed comic relief.

'The Border' has every chance to drown in cliche, but to Tony Richardson's credit, it never does. The characters could so easily have become good guy/bad guy caricatures, but to the credit of an amazing supporting cast, they never do.

And OH what a supporting cast! Harvey Keitel is terrific, especially when he is trying to reign in his bimbo, drunken, horndog wife. Cat can handle the meanest border scum, but is a whipped puppy with Ms. Thang. Which leads to the superb performances of both Shannon Wilcox and Valerie Perrine as the Boobsey Twin Airheads from Hell. Check out their rendition of their high school cheerleading chant. Also loved Warren Oates as the crooked Border Patrol Chief, particularly the scene where he explains to the sleazy drop point bad guy (one character dangerously close to cliche) that their truck of "wets" got caught by a couple of honest border guards and "Goddamit, I ain't got no control over that! That's just gonna happen sometimes."

But for me, the supporting performance at the soul of this film is Elpidia Carrillo's heart-wrenching, moving portrayal of Maria. All she is asked to do is symbolize everything pure, noble, and long-suffering, to be the Mexican Madonna. And to do it with about 5 lines of dialogue in the entire film, and that is in Spanish. Oh, and she's about 18 years old and this is her first American film. And guess what? She's simply amazing, conveying more in a single expression than most actresses could in 10 pages of dialogue. Of course it helps to be born with one of the most expressive, open faces in the universe, and boy does she know how to use it. (Carrillo had a similar role, even named Maria, in Oliver Stone's 'Salvador' a couple of years later, and was equally as good. She was also outstanding as Jimmy Smits' wife in 'My Family'. She finally got her just acclaim a couple of years ago in Ken Louche's 'Bread and Roses', winning an ALMA and even having the critics talking Oscar, and for the lead in the Mexican historical epic 'The Other Conquest').

The scene that will always stick in my mind has Charley going to the sad hovel occupied by Maria and her brother to give them the money to pay a coyote to bring them across. Maria is confused, wondering why he would help them. Then she thinks she knows, and with a whole world of sad resignation on her young shoulders, without a word, begins to undress. The Jack/Charley that responds, telling her gently that she owes him nothing, that he just wants to to feel good about something, sometime, is so simple, so sweet, and so heart-felt that it may be one of Jack's finest, most authentic screen moments. Never mind that she doesn't understand a word; they connect. A simple but deeply moving scene; it connects.

Go rent this simple straightforward film with its fine acting and directing. In its simple way, it is a powerful, unforgettable classic.

I remember seeing this movie at a seedy downtown LA theater, the second film of a double bill that I almost walked out on before it began. I was glad I stayed. I don't remember what the feature film was, but I have never forgotten this movie.

Jack Nicholson plays a on-the-take border patrol cop trying to go straight, but surrounded by corruption on both sides of the fence. He finally has to choose between fitting in by being a dirt bag, and being true to himself and cutting his ties with his buddies and his family.

The border is not only a fence between two countries, it's a moral line between decency and indecency, between moral compromise and being a truly humane and compassionate person regardless of the consequences.

The acting is superb, and the the plot could not be more timely. So give this box office bomb a go soon! It's a real diamond in the rough.

Jack Nicholson gives a wonderfully controlled performance in this film. His restraint and control is contrasted to Harvey Keitel's fallen character and to his out-of-control, childish wife (Valerie Perrine). He works in dishonest circumstances in which he enforces the law selectively in a tacit arrangement with crooked businessmen. In so doing he is a part of the exploitation of Mexican workers. When he transfers from L.A. to Texas, his conscience is awakened by his dishonest co-worker and a beautiful, victimized Latina (Elpidia Carillo) and her child.

There is plenty of action and the story moves in response to the characters.

Freddy Fender and Ry Cooder provide memorable and haunting music that just makes the whole film so much more powerful.