Distúrbio Mortal

A thriller is supposed to thrill, among other things. But the strongest emotions that "Borderline" manages to build in the viewer are confusion and an odd feeling. The odd feeling mainly comes with where the movie was shot. Although it's made clear that the story is taking place in California, you don't need to watch the closing credits to know that the movie was shot in a foreign country (South Africa, to be exact.) The buildings and scenery don't look quite right, especially since it's all mostly photographed in a manner that gives everything dull and dark colors. The real problems with the movie, however, are what I stated in my summary line. At the end of the movie, there are a number of plot threads that haven't been properly resolved, so it's hard to figure out who did exactly what and why. Even director Evelyn Maude Purcell was apparently bewildered by the twists and turns, because she doesn't manage to build up any tension or suspense. At best, the movie feels strictly routine. There's nothing here to grab an audience's attention, so I say avoid it. It's not the worst movie ever made, but oddly there are a lot of worse movies out there that are more interesting to watch than this movie.

If having a strong screen presence means that it's difficult for viewers to keep their eyes off you, then Gina Gershon certainly has "it" (the fact that she looks about 10 years younger than her actual age doesn't hurt, either). So it's a shame that her talent is wasted in completely average thriller fare such as this. It's also nice to see Michael Biehn again, but he has the standard cop-romantically-involved-with-the-main-suspect role (actually, I found his partner more enjoyable). Sean Patrick Flanery has the "obsessive psycho" role - a role we've seen about a million times before - and he doesn't bring anything new or creative to it. His uninspired performance is one of the reasons this film is nothing-special; the "TV-movie-of-the-week"-style direction is another. The plot holds your interest until the end, but the "moment of revelation" comes through the oldest trick in the book. I was disappointed. (**)

This picture was filmed in Capetown, South Africa with expert talent and a script far superior to a lot of recent Hollywood thriller crap (like Bullock's MURDER BY NUMBERS, Spacey's DAVID GALE and any of those Ashley Judd potboilers she made with Morgan Freeman, to name a few). This is a nicely contrived murder mystery featuring a strong female lead and some intelligent supporting players; even the obligatory child factor was nicely handled in this particular case. It's an adult murder noir with some smart character interplay. Choice of it's kind.

The psychiatrist Dr. Lila Colleti (Gina Gershon) is a woman with a trauma in her childhood that is divorcing her husband. She works in a penitentiary with disturbed prisoners that like her. Her ex-husband Paul Colleti (Nick Boraine) and she are disputing the custody of their two daughters in court, and Paul wins the dispute. Paul brings the daughters to his house and Lila becomes depressive and upset. She goes to a bar, where she meets the former prisoner and patient Ciro Ruiz (Jon Huertas), and uses drugs with alcohol, having a blackout. In the night, Paul and her girlfriend are murdered, and Lila becomes the prime suspect. Det. Macy Kobacek (Michael Biehn), who is her boyfriend, is in charge of the investigation with his partner Det. Frank Hagen (Eddie Driscoll), and Lila accuses her manipulative patient Ed Baikman (Sean Patrick Flanery) to her boyfriend. However, all the evidences are against Lila and Macy is not sure of who is the killer.

"Borderline" is an ambiguous low budget thriller with a story of manipulation that has flaws in the screenplay, but holds the attention of the viewer until the last scene. Unfortunately the conclusion is not clear and the director Evelyn Maude Purcell fails. It seems that her intention might be to keep the doubt of who is manipulating who, Ed Baikman or Dr. Lila Colleti. After watching for the second time, one possible interpretation is that Lila is so manipulative that has an affair with Macy to have someone to help her in the police department and manipulates Ed Baikman to make him the scapegoat of the murder. In the end, she stays alone with her daughters that was her prime objective. Doesn't it make sense? Last but not the least, the forty years old Gina Gershon is still a very sexy woman and is another attraction in this above-average film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Distúrbio Mortal" ('Mortal Disturbance")

Note: On 16 February 2016 I saw this movie again.

Borderline plays around with the grey areas of the human mind that control impulse, empathy and rational thinking, showing (albeit in slightly stunted and blunt B movie form) us a recently released psychiatric patient with Borderline Personality Disorder who becomes obsessed with bis former doctor. Gina Gershon is Lila Coletti, a prison psychiatrist who is very good at her job. Maybe too good. When she sanctions the release of Ed Baikman (Sean Patrick Flanery), she has no idea the heap of trouble she's headed for. Ed is anything but rehabilitated, just a charmer who's great at disguising his instability. Pretty soon people in Lila's life start to get mysteriously injured, and even killed. She is protected by her boyfriend, Detective Macy Kobacek (a slick Michael Biehn), but it may not be enough to put a stop to Ed's crafty, dangerous game. Gershon has always been a strong force, despite being saddled with a lot of... I don't want to use the M word, but let's say, promiscuous roles. She holds her own as a lead female protagonist in a real world context even better, and I wish she'd get more roles like this. Flanery is creepy without resorting to gimmicky grimacing or run of the mill psycho stuff. Biehn is Biehn, he's just a legend in any role. Most of the acting besides those three is pretty patchy, but one can only hope for so much with this kind of low budget fare. Worth it for fans of these actors (they're all favesies of mine), and a not too shabby little thriller.