Linewatch - La scelta

It's a shame that some movies never get to the theaters. Lately, Cuba Gooding Jr. has been doing a lot of those movies, and though I haven't seen them all, I rent one from time to time: I think the man's a great actor. In Kevin Bray's "Linewatch", he gives a stand-out performance as Mike Dixon, a police officer who works for the border patrol and is suddenly haunted by the past. The actor is so subtle here, so committed to the role that we can't help desiring something better for him.

Movies like this one are not sold properly for the audience. "On the border between the US and Mexico, the law is what you make it", reads the tagline of "Linewatch". It's logical that you would expect a bad film with something like that on its cover. Sadly, sometimes the truth is different, like in this case. The border is just scenery in this movie, a nice place to shoot and develop some plot lines of David W. Wardfield's screenplay.

The script is about absolutely everything else, and though it doesn't develop its characters fully, it leaves a good taste in your mouth, and you feel you've watched something worthy of your time. The key however is in the casting, because when you have a slow film like this one with just a few action scenes, you need good actors to spend the rest of the time with. Sharon Leal is warm and caring as Dixon's wife and the girl who plays their daughter is especially good. The gangsters that come to bother Dixon and bring the past back with them all achieve good performances. Each of them is allowed to stand out from time to time, but they are at their best, natural and relaxed, when doing small talk as they guard Dixon's family.

Two of them are probably the most important in terms of the story though: Kimo (Omari Hardwick) and Little Boy (Evan Ross). I haven't told you the hold story yet, partly because I want you to go and rent this picture (the only way to see it), and partly because the movie doesn't tell it either…I'll leave that for you to discover, saying only that it's a well developed plot for the genre that even leaves room for some small surprises.

Kevin Bray does everything right and never poses for something that his movie isn't. He knows how to create true tension and achieves it in two crucial moments that don't include fast-paced action, helped by Jeff Mcllwain's exciting score (which, by the way, also works perfectly in the action sequences).

The action is not the main attraction in "Linewatch" as it would be in, for example, "Taken". However, the fact that the leader of a gang bang doesn't completely look and act like we would assume a gangster would and some phrases that could be suppressed make this look like a B-movie. But then, "Taken" was also a B-movie (in the best sense and with the best production); and a good one. Maybe "Linewatch" is even better; a bit more humane…Realer.

sorry about that guys, you have done a good job acting and supporting the dull plot and the non-creative directing. the story opens with some "flesh" which kept me watching for the next 40 minutes. after that, very disappointed, i withdrew the movie, just hoping that the cast-members got their well balanced fee for their efforts. i'm sure that working in a dull/boring environment calls for more effort than when being involved in an interesting enthusiastic project, no matter which kind of work is required. this movie doesn't entitle more than 1/10 but as the actors are not to be blamed i give it a 5/10 and declare again; this one is not worth any effort from your side.

For some reason recently, I have become interested in Cuba Gooding Jr.'s present career, seeing how he has become box office poison and is now mostly stuck in doing straight-to-video movies. I was wondering if he had learned his lesson after doing those awful theatrical movies and was now picking better scripts (like Jean Claude Van Damme). After seeing several of his recent movies - including this one - I've concluded that either he hasn't learned his lesson or simply doesn't care.

In fairness, there are a few good things about LINEWATCH. Though this had a low budget ($5 million), it at least looks decent. The cinematography is above average, and the production team chose existing locations that they didn't have to change yet look believable. Also, Gooding fits in this role better than a lot of his other movie roles (theatrical or otherwise.)

But the rest of the movie is pretty much a bust, thanks to its screenplay and its direction. The screenplay clearly needed some more rewrites - its flaws start at the beginning, with the movie seemingly starting at chapter two instead of the beginning. Things do clear up eventually, but then the movie slows down almost to a halt - it takes more than 30 minutes into the movie before the conflict starts for the protagonist. The movie then continues its very slow crawl right up to the climatic scene - there's only about enough story in this movie for a short film, not a feature-length movie.

Curiously, though, despite this slow pace, there are several instances where it seems that footage is missing, and it resulted that I was confused several times for several seconds each time as to what exactly happened. Though even if this seemingly missing footage was restored, it might not have helped the movie - it would have made the movie longer and possibly even more of an ordeal to sit through.

The plot: A cop with a dark past comes face-to-face with the past he's been running away from.

Cuba Gooding, Jr stars as a border patrol officer in New Mexico. He's trying to track down the ruthless "coyote" who left illegal immigrants for dead. In the mean time, he's clashing with racist vigilantes and his superiors, while trying to salvage his family life. This get even more complicated when some L.A. gang members show up, recognize him, and threaten to kill his family, unless he acts as their inside man.

I liked the first part of this movie better, before the gangsters showed up. Once the gangster plot took over, I became considerably less enthused, though I stuck around to see how it would end. The gangsters have a few good scenes, but they never really get the characterization that good villains require. In one memorable scene, they engage in some particularly brutal hazing, which does a good job of making you hate them... but it doesn't really tell you who they are.

The movie plays out somewhat predictably, but the competent stunts and fight choreography make the action sequences pretty watchable. The acting wasn't really a problem for me, but I doubt anyone here is going to win any awards. I generally enjoyed Linewatch, but it's difficult to recommend the movie to anyone but other die-hard Cuba Gooding, Jr fans. His career has been in freefall ever since the mid-2000s, but I actually liked most of his recent movies. They're not great movies, but they're better than what Steven Seagal has been shoveling out.

One wonders when Cuba Gooding, Jr is going to find roles that are equal to his talent. LINEWATCH is a sleepwalk/phone-in role written for him by David W. Waterfield and directed by Kevin Bray in a story that attempts to take on a few too many problem situations in one session - illegal immigration, the human manipulation and abuse by the Coyotes and those involved in the crime industry of illegal transportation, Los Angeles ghetto crime life, across the border drug trafficking, family values in gangsters who turn to an honest life, etc. Not that these problems don't deserve our being reminded of serious situations constantly present, but the story has been told many times in better ways.

Michael Dixon (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is an ex-gang member living close to the Mexican border with his beautiful wife Angela (Sharon Leal) and daughter as he serves as a US Border Patrol Agent. His heart is in the right place and when he discovers a van full of expired immigrants the pain of his job surfaces. Simultaneously he discovers a band of drug smugglers who work to find a way to transport drugs across the border in to the US - a gang comprised of Michael's old gang. His 'friend', near psychotic Drake (Omari Hardwick - very impressive in this role), makes threats to Michael cajoling him into working with Mike's ex-gang to route the drug smuggling trucks across the border using Mike's affiliation with the US Border Patrol information. The stress that Michael feels under the threat of the gang's violence to his family leads him to act in a manner that brings the story to an end.

Gooding remains a fine screen presence: had he been given a better script and story it would be a pleasure to see him again. The supporting cast is fine, the cinematography by Paul M. Sommers is dirty and gritty as it should be and the musical score by Jeff McIlwain all but smothers the dialogue. The reason this film didn't make it in theaters is very obvious.

Grady Harp