Chicanos, chasseur de têtes

Don't expect to see Chuck wipe out men by request, shoot punks or grow watermelons. This time Bronson is Jeb Maynard, a tough and experienced chief border patrol officer investigating the cold-blooded murder of one of his men who is just two weeks away from retirement. With the aid of a newly transferred young officer from New York, Maynard tracks down the ruthless killer who is seemingly as elusive as the masterminds behind the crime.

BORDERLINE, a lesser known and often forgotten Bronson's film (at least to me), plays like a pilot episode of a TV series. Not much tension is delivered and not much action either, but this crime drama keeps viewers, especially fans, interested. Unfortunately, the distinctively catchy music during the opening credits is underplayed, which renders some key scenes emotionally bland.

Compared with other Bronson's films - Cold Sweat, White Buffalo, Love and Bullets - which are rather disappointing, BORDERLINE quite delivers the goods. It's always a pleasure for Bronson's fans to see him take up a different role: here we see more of his acting and charisma while less of his machismo (Not saying that this side of Bronson's acting style is unwelcome). During his long acting career, Charles Bronson only had several memorable films which made him an iconic action star. BORDERLINE is certainly not one of them. For his fans, this minor entry is worth watching regardless.

Charles Bronson is the officer in charge of a border patrol station in charge of a stretch of territory East of San Diego. He explains to new officer Bruno Kirby that they're catching a hundred people a day and estimate twice as many get through. He asked for a couple of dozen new hands and got Kirby.

Those who expect a Bronson movie to be a bloodbath will be surprised at the calmer, more procedural tone of this movie. Bronson doesn't seem to care about how many people come into the US; he's just there to enforce the laws. Smuggling in people is a big, well organized business, with the men in charge getting the profits off an estimated 3,000,000 illegal immigrants a year at $300 a head. Ed Harris, in his first credited film role, is the head of the local operations. Can Bronson, who seems to have no life outside his job, bring them to book?

...is unfortunately not quite exceeded

Not the worst Bronson film. Although one hopes that Charly would occasionally turn up the heat a bit more, the film focuses more on story and suspense, which is not bad. All in all, it's meant to be a socially critical trill, not so much an action thriller. But the cliché probably demands it, one thirsts for a little more reactionary ruckus.

In other roles in the flick, which is well cast right down to the supporting roles, are Hollywood veterans Bruno Kirby, Kenneth McMillan, Wilford Brimley and Ed Harris, among others, all familiar faces from numerous classics. 6,5 / 10.

"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 this day and age 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 (playing Jeb Maynard), 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 Jebs' co-workers. 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.

This is just a flick with a simple story but it's still watchable towards todays standards. It's all about the borderline between America and Mexico and the business that is going on to 'help' Mexicans cross the line.

For a flick of 1980 it is very low on brutality. It was a time that had a lot of blood, nudity and gore in it's flicks but this here just hasn't any of that. There's one killing that is well done, the shooting at the beginning but further there's nothing to see. But the thespians here to see is the main reason to watch it.

The main lead is done by Charles Bronson, you love or hate him but I love him even as he isn't an actor with great abilities he still delivers. It was made at a time that Bronson was more in rough flicks or revenge flicks starting with the Death Wish franchise (1974). But there's also Ed Harris (Hotchkiss) here to see in one of his first major roles. He got his first taste of critical acclaim, playing astronaut John Glenn in The Right Stuff (1983). Also Bruno Kirby (Jimmy Fante ) made it in blockbusters like Good Morning Vietnam (1987). There are more popular faces to see in smaller roles like Charles Cypher.

We have seen this story a few times in other flicks but as I said earlier, it still works and is in fact still actual.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5