The Frontier

Whos says 1970s maxi skirts, wrinkly pantyhose and unkempt, brown hair can't be sexy! Jocelyn Donahue, as Laine definitely pulls off a convincing performance of a sweet girl in a dangerously wrong situation, who wriggles through perilous scrapes with the innocence of a lamb, though, as we soon find she is neither of the two. Though "The Frontier" has the appearance of a 70s TV Movie, with suitable, "barn-find" automobiles and even more antiquated TV sets(!) the action keeps one guessing (admittedly unsubtle), and the script never fails to spring surprises, right to the end. The medium budget drama has both the aura of a road movie and a Western, but in this Western you tend to have just the Bad and the Ugly. In this respect "The Frontier" reminded me of "The Hateful Eight" (2015). Both movies tend also to be pretty liberal in the mistreatment of women, but in taking sexual equality at face value all's fair in love and Hollywood. I think it is more a movie for the guys, thanks to the presence of Laine, doubtless prissily pretty, never showing too much to prove it. The character of Flyn the Englishman was pretty weak, thanks to his difficulty in mastering the tongue, but if you remember only the goofs of a movie it tends to be a "baddun" - right?. "The Frontier", thankfully does have one or two saving graces, e.g. that pass-the-parcel swag- bag of dollars, the ruthless internecine bumping off of adversaries and that all so understandable corruptibility of humans.

A gritty American Southwest flick, The Frontier manages to capture a western outlaw atmosphere in a rustic wind blown environment.

A pretty, mysterious girl named Laine driving across the Arizona desert becomes temporarily employed at a diner to make up for food & lodging. The residents and customers therein are a motley lot, each with their own disturbing secrets, and each sharing a collective one as well. There's Eddie the rebel {a brash leather-clad young man reminiscent of Jim Stark/James Dean}; couple Gloria & Flynn are a British gentleman & a Jayne Mansfield-type girlfriend; Luanne, an eccentric former showgirl {diner owner, glamorous yet quite neurotic}; Lee is a stony bearded professor-like gentleman; & Officer Gault comes and goes, reminding one of a William Shatner character*, who takes a shine to Laine, especially evident in the end. Incidentally, despite a very close call with The Reaper, Laine merges with the unlikely crew of malfeasants awaiting their ill- gotten reward, utilizing venomous trickery to gain her own deadly remuneration.

With various unexpected twists and turns, the dangerous path throughout The Frontier leads to surprise lethal treasures awaiting those with a ruthlessly lawless disposition, where few survive. ∞

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* i.e., Mark Preston of The Devil's Rain, Rack Hansen of Kingdom of The Spiders.

The Plot.

Laine, a young woman on the run from the law, turns up at the Frontier, an isolated desert diner and motel.

She is offered a job by Luanne, the owner, and, hoping to lose herself in the obscurity of the place, accepts the job. But soon Laine realizes she has stumbled into an even bigger and more dangerous situation.

Firstly, i like the Twin Peaks look of the film. But it's very slow and the female lead is not a particularly good actress. She brings the movie down.

The dialog is second rate. It's hard to emulate Lynch because he's genuinely quirky and knows how to make it work. In fact, the more I watched this film, the more I felt it was just a Lynch rip off thank anything else.

I don't get the it looks.....like it was made in the 70's, well people.. it's obviously set in that period, judging by all the 70's clothing style and cars, and like a lot of great 70's movies, for example Vanishing Point, The French Connection, Bullitt, to name but three, it is all the better for it.

I just do not understand the negative 70's comments, they are clearly made by sub age 40's film watchers, more in tune with todays bang... bang and Fast 'n' Boring style movies, with fake cgi, that you don't have to think to hard when you watch them.

Ok so this movie is a little B movie in it's style, but for all that I actually enjoyed it way more than I was expecting, the acting and plot is very good, and if you like some substance in your movie plots then give it a watch, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Oren Shai's The Frontier is a slick Americana genre throwback, that truly makes me pine for the good ole days.

I was lucky enough to catch this film at SXSW, and it was glorious to watch on the big screen. Shot on gorgeous Super 16mm with wardrobe and production design that leap off the screen like a pulp novel come to life.

Laine arrives at The Frontier motel on the run from her problems, and she encounters a cast of characters with their own secrets to hide.

Jocelin Donahue is superb as Laine, the girl on the run who uses her wits to stay one step ahead of everyone. This is truly a demanding role that she excels in, as she's on-screen for virtually the entire film. If this were a pulp book, I'd gladly read the next 10-20 episodes of her story.

If I watched this in a drive in I'd have a hard time not thinking that I've gone back in time to 1974. So forget whatever tentpole blockbuster schlock that you're going to pay exorbitant prices to see at the local megaplex. Instead, let's turn the dial back and settle in to watch interesting people, behaving badly.