Borderline

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.

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.

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. (**)

Borderline is definitely a better thriller , worth the watch.

"Borderline" is just that. Borderline. Representing little more than a pay check for a slew of actors and production people, "Borderline" is a B-flick from the get go. Gershon is at the center as a prison psychiatrist whose ex-husband is murdered after securing custody of the divorced couple's two daughters. Gershon, who just happens to be dating an investigator on the case, is suspect and spends the run time trying to convince everyone, including the audience, of her innocence. With a threadbare plot, an uneven portrayal by Gershon, and ordinariness in all aspects of the film, there's little reason to spend time with "Borderline" unless you happen to surf it on cable and are in the mood for a convoluted mystery flick. (C-)