Bordertown (2006)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Gregory Nava

Writer (WGA):

Gregory Nava (written by)

Release Date:

22 February 2007 (Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Lies. Corruption. Murder. One reporter will break the silence.

Plot:

A journalist investigates a series of murders near American-owned factories on the border of Juarez and El Paso.

Plot Keywords:

Factory | Journalist | Factory Worker | Electrocution | Ex Girlfriend

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Maya Zapata	...	Eva Jimenez
Irineo Alvarez	...	Domingo Esparza
Rene Rivera	...	Aris Rodriguez
Jennifer Lopez	...	Lauren Adrian
Martin Sheen	...	George Morgan
Karolinah Villarreal	...	Young Lauren
Debrianna Mansini	...	Flight Attendant
Randall Batinkoff	...	Frank Kozerski
Gonzalo Mauro Montiel Aguirre	...	Curandero (as Gonzalo Mauro Montiel)
Antonio Banderas	...	Alfonso Diaz
Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez	...	Lourdes Jimenez (as Zaide Sylvia Gutierrez)
Amelia Zapata	...	Lourdes's Friend
Julio Cedillo	...	Julio (as Julio Cesar Cedillo)
Jorge Urzua	...	Eduardo Lopes
Ruben G. Rojas	...	Eduardo's Man (as Ruben Rojas)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence including a brutal rape, sexuality, nudity and language.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16 | Singapore:M18 | Peru:18

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Möbius Entertainment

Trivia:

Loosely based on a series of unsolved murders in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, an industrial border town near El Paso, Texas. Although estimates conflict, innumerable young women have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered since 1993.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Exposing the Juarez Murders: The Making of 'Bordertown' (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Porque La Vida Es Asi

Who isn't paying attention?

Made as a sort of political commentary for free trade agreements - NAFTA (North American Free Trade) - that was a mistake, someone got really sidetracked! This is a movie very worth seeing, and a story that is screeching for a gesture of humanity. It stands on its own without any need for appeal to populist causes.

This a story and wants to be a film, a dramatized documentary about sordid evil human exploitation. What has been happening in Juarez, Mexico for the past decade may have been helped by some political and commercial developments, but the origin and the result is pure deathly evil.

Pay attention. The first nearly 50% of 200 votes about this film on IMDb were "1". Eh ... one? Think here for a moment . . . the story was and continues to be viciously true, the depiction is very accurate. Over 4000 (!) women in this US/Mexican border town have gone missing, and over 400 have been found dead !! In just a few years.

This has been going on for a decade and has been repeatedly reported throughout the world's press. Dedicated reporters and honest police in this town have been killed in numbers scraping to reveal the truth, and still the vacuum of female death continues.

For credibility, Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Lopez have had so so ratings, but have had hits as well as misses, but have not been known to be lacking in integrity. Greg Nava, writer and director has had some strong directing with some powerful histories (6+ ratings most of the time.) Martin Sheen, rarely misses. So, should the first 40% of the votes really be "1" ?? Were all these cinema professionals so off base, or is an internet group subverting the IMDb voting system en mass?? Well, this is the question that probably is begging the integrity of not just this film, but even the IMDb. Guys we need an investigation here. Please check folks, this leads to the very heart of what 10,000's and perhaps 100,000's of IMDb fans trust in. (And in the case of this film, 100's are dying for.) For the film, Jennifer is pretty good, and Antonio has a few but not so many good lines. Nothing is spectacular, but the story and the cinematography is on. The script and direction could have been much better.

Objectively and even from an informed perspective - I've seen 100's of films each year for nearly 50 years,worked in the industry, and have called about 80% of the winners for the top 5 or six film awards ceremonies (by award criteria/bias) for the past 15 years with better than 85% accuracy - this movie is not a popularly rated film so far, per 388 "objective" persons surveyed viewers. But take a look and tell whether the package rates a 4.8 ! I don't believe that this film rates a "10" any more than it rates a "1" or a "4.8". So based on that ludicrousy, I vote "10" until the investigation resolves the nearly 20% of early volume of "1" votes.

It is important that honest and committed film viewers and consciences, vote to give this movie, issue, and the IMDb a dignified rating so that the curious uninformed will be properly attracted to an awareness of this better than average film, that portrays this horrific reality.