Bordertown

BORDERTOWN is more than a suspenseful film about a tragic reality that has been terrifying Juarez, Mexico for years. This film, written and directed by Gregory Nava ('Mi Familia', 'El Norte', 'Selena', etc), approaches a public service campaign on the part of Nava and the rest of his cast and crew - especially producer/star Jennifer Lopez. After the stunning effect of the film, the viewer is encouraged to watch the several excellent featurettes on the DVD - and then try to remain uninvolved.

Chicago Sentinel editor George Morgan (Martin Sheen) convinces the reluctant reporter Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez) to fly to Juarez, Mexico to cover a combustible story about the ongoing rapes and murders of women who work the factories along the border for little pay. Lauren would prefer becoming a foreign correspondent and extracts a promise that if she takes on this ugly assignment ('I don't speak Spanish and I don't know anything about Mexico'), Morgan will grant that request. When the beautiful blond Lauren arrives in Juarez she is shocked by the reality: a very young factory worker girl Eva (the fine young actress Maya Zapata) has managed to survive a rape and attempted murder, literally climbing out of her grave and escaping. Lauren and Eva bond and Lauren realizes that her story about the 5000 victims of this heinous serial killing may just rest with the information Eva holds: she can identify her assailants. With the aid of anxious newspaper owner Alfonso Diaz (Antonio Banderas) the three begin the dangerous struggle to unveil the truths about the cover-up of the deaths: the police and government corruption in Mexico are matched by similar deeds in the USA in order to protect the NAFTA arrangement which apparently holds the profit of the mega-factories of more importance then the mere lives of thousands of Mexican women. How the trio infiltrates the corruption (and the buried secret realities of Lauren's humble beginnings) provide the remainder of the film.

Nava elects to shoot this film in garish light and emphasizes the tragic filth and mire of the living conditions of the peasants along the border - each hoping to escape the life situations by crossing into the US. He manages to maintain a coarse cinematic effect that enhances the story. Not only Is Lopez in top form, but also she is assisted by a fine cast of fellow actors including Sonia Braga, Juan Diego Botto, Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, Rene Rivera among others. Yes, the story has been told before, but that only means there are many people who want this contemporary tragedy to end. In one of the features on the DVD we are given addresses and names to contact to help stop this horrendous 'feminicide'. Take serious note. Grady Harp

Straight up review: 6/10 (just finished watching... initial impressions)

A deep fascinating film that I assumes is based on real life. Unfortunately it cannot hold a candle to similar films like "City of God", "Hotel Rwanada" or "Blood Diamond". Honestly makes me question whether i want to visit Mexico or not (is it safe?).

Why 6/10?

• believable and seems to follow possible real life.

• poor acting

-strange flow

• I had difficulty relating to the story and the characters, but i was curious and did continue to watch. Most successful stories draw you in to the drama and life of the main characters. Unfortunately the all-star cast Antonia Bandaras and JLO just couldn't do it.

• most people outside of that area probably won't relate

• The theme of Corporate Industrialist pseudo 1800s robber barons seemed contrive and poorly tacked on or just didn't fly as well. (albeit it might be true)

=> Cool idea but not compellingly done nor could I relate or be drawn into the story. Good try. Better luck tomorrow! => Movie or Video: if your from the community in question I guess theater but for everyone else save your money and rent.

Reading the negative reviews of this movie was kind of shocking, really. This heartbreaking story was one that needed to be told, and with all the meaningless crap that is peddled out of Hollywood, this was like a breath of fresh air. Perhaps "Bordertown" won't get 10 Oscar nominations or whatever, but I enjoyed watching Jennifer Lopez unravel the mystery of what happened to Eva, the young girl attacked, left for dead, and miraculously survived. I thought the performances were courageous and not overdone, and the direction and cinematography was great. The price we pay in our humanity to get lower prices on electronics and other goods, and to line the pockets of corruption wherever it is found, is much too high. I wish more movies like "Bordertown" were being made...it is quite sad to me that movies like this (also Erin Brokovich, North Country, Silkwood, as well as others) go straight to DVD and so many other movies with no message, just a grandiose budget and special effects, are more important than those with something to say.

Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez) is a reporter for the Chicago Sentinel. She is forced by her boss (Martin Sheen) to go to Juarez to do a story about a series of mysterious murders of young factory women who are attracted to the new jobs at the maquiladoras. She doesn't speak much Spanish and reconnects with independent reporter Alfonso Diaz (Antonio Banderas). The police is corrupt and trying to cover up the murders. Eva Jimenez (Maya Zapata) is a young woman who was taken by a bus driver to the dump where him and another man raped her and left her for dead. The only person she trust is Diaz. She goes to his newspaper but the police is close behind. Diaz is taken in by the police leaving Eva and Lauren alone together.

Writer/director Gregory Nava got a couple of A-list stars to do small roles in this but it's Lopez that's asked to carry this thing on her shoulders. She needs help as an actress to keep this movie moving. Banderas is good but he's not in this enough. The movie keeps separating them which is a mistake in my opinion. The story is ripped from the headlines with some action added in. Nava isn't good at the action scenes. This is generally a weak construction. There isn't much of a mystery since everything is laid out right in front of us. It struggles to be a thriller or a mystery. Nava doesn't have the skills and the tension is very low. Then Lopez goes undercover and all the logic goes out the window. I don't know why she has to work in the factory since they know it's the bus driver. Also I don't know why she doesn't have somebody follow the bus. It's a bus and isn't that hard to follow. But the movie isn't done and it keeps going down the rabbit hole.

This is not the kind of movie I usually see, and I must admit that while watching it on TV, I gradually realized that it was not the documentary film I expected. The story is based on a horrifying and tragic reality of raping and killing of women on the Mexican border, of which I did not know anything, as underreported throughout the world. The movie has so the laudable merit of bringing to light and denouncing the terrifying drama of thousands of women being raped and disappeared in those waste lands, working in those appalling "maquilladoras", where even the most basic human rights are completely disregarded, and where deep economic interests prevail over respect for human dignity. However, as the story progressed, I realized it was more an action-thriller than a documentary picture, standing out for gripping though improbable, twists, a tense and quick pace, intertwined with some more relaxed and relaxing moments, which appear as really improbable and above all of bad taste and out of place if we consider the grave topic of the movie. It is as if that worthy aim gives way to more entertaining and market needs. So my doubt was: how can such a highly committed movie be bent to the logic of the box-office? How can you shift your attention from scenes of rape of terrifying violence to the underlining of J. Lo's perfect silhouette? It is evident that the production aimed at attracting audience through an attractive cast and some shrewd devices, such as pacing action, a thriller-plot, sentimental flash-backs, some entertaining music, thus losing its seriousness and credibility. I watched it till the end, because it was gripping and, like all thriller movies, you want to know how it ends up, but I realize this is not the reason why I should have wanted to see it till the end, and in this sense I think it is, in the end, a failed movie.