User reviews

Radio Times said this was a 'busy little crime drama with a Michael Mann feel and an impressive cast.' and awarded a credible 3 stars, so I thought it worth checking out on Sky Movies. It follows, based on a true story, a stockbroking tycoon who's made billions ripping people off and now the Feds and some unhappy and disgruntled people are after him.

So, as this second feature from writer/director from R Ellis Frazer went straight to DVD, what's wrong with it - and is it worth watching?

The cast is certainly good; a grey-bearded Andy Garcia, Aidan Quinn as the unscrupulous billionaire in the title, Mario van Peebles as an FBI agent and Gina Gershon. Oh, and Luke Goss, of course, who actually is OK and now looks much more distinguished than he did with his baby youth looks in band Bros.; tanned, stubbled and with a close- cropped haircut - a more youthful, smoother Jason Statham, if you like.

First things first, this is not an action movie, certainly not at first. It meanders and ponders, with impressive but slow camera-work and music that is sparse and suggestive. It picks up after half an hour as more characters get in on the act of hunting down Mr Wright. The story itself is quite difficult to follow, not helped by its un-rushed feel. It made me lose interest in what was going on at times and it often changed scenes and characters at the drop of a hat.

The landscapes of Mexico looked evocative enough which helped it roll along but overall, it was all a bit too ponderous and needed tightening up. The lack of any urgency made it more Sunday afternoon than Friday night viewing and whilst I would say it was 'OK', I wouldn't buy the DVD, or recommend it too highly, either. The performances are generally good, but forgettable, as are the people they play.

Just as his billion dollar financial empire is about to crumble, a scheming businessman evades the authorities and goes on the run. Hot on his trail are two different crime organizations as well as the FBI.

The scope of the story is enormous considering what looks like a shoestring budget but "Across the Line" is what I'd call a straight-to-video thriller done right and much of the credit should go to R. Ellis Frazier who wrote, directed and produced this movie.

Frazier has penned a classic thriller which would end up below average but thanks to the different story threads he has crafted as well as an attention and love for the characters and the setting, it rises from mediocrity. The direction is gritty, down to earth yet tasteful and aesthetic enough for the genre, with tight editing and a great score.

However, where this movie shines the most is probably in the acting department when again, we consider this is a straight-to-video thriller. This movie's casting stands out in all ways. Aidan Quinn stars as Charlie Wright, the con men on the run who now seems haunted by his past. Quinn is simply amazing and it is almost unfortunate to see him give such a performance in a movie that will give him absolutely no chance of recognition at any kind of award ceremony.

Andy Garcia is also breathtaking as a crime lord. Far from the standard caricature of the merciless, threatening boss, Garcia plays up the fragility of his character due to past failures. There is a lot of depth here thanks to Frazier's writing and Garcia's portrayal. Every other cast member is good or even better. Even Van Peebles, who has mailed performances in so many direct-to-video lemons gives a better than usual performance.

Despite Quinn getting the lion's share of screen time, this is very much a story with an ensemble of characters, a dozen or so. Many of those given more attention than we are used to, even in bigger productions.

There are few action sequences here but one stands out in the middle of the film. An intense shootout that may not be as spectacular as Michael Mann's Heat or Christopher McQuarrie's Way of the Gun but is close enough and memorable as well as unpredictable.

The film is not without flaws and unfortunately, loses steam in the last third or so. Clocking at around 90 minutes, there could have been a few more twists and turns and an added 15 to 30 minutes further exploring some of the characters. Perhaps due to the short running time, the film also relies a bit too much on unlikely coincidences and certain characters crossing path a little too often.

But all in all, this is great writing by Frazier (who seems to favor stories taking place south of the border), a solid directorial effort and some smart choices as a producer to surround himself with actors whose stars may have faded a little but are still able to deliver great performances.

I'll be sure to watch Frazier's next effort.

Nice screenplay writer who did the nice directing. The casting was great, the acting of all the actors on both sides of the border were also top-notched. There was a very strong nostalgic feeling and melancholy touch throughout the whole movie. Rarely a movie would portray from so many angles from so many different parties: The FBI agent in charge with a big heart, the loyal FBI young agent with a dubious gender mix-up, the two past prime Russian mafia, the hired hit-man and hit team from U.S., the desperate Don of the Mexican Northern Cartel(Andy Garcia was so great in this movie), his younger brother(a very cool Mexican actor), his wife, then, there's the lonely Mexican whore, the scamming con artist(Quinn also did a great and very reserved job) who's so desperately trying to locate his estranged Mexican lover and their love's product, a daughter the guy never met before. All these ingredients were put together so smooth, and sometimes, very poetically beautiful.

The gun fight scenes were carried out pretty good, the sound track, the camera, the editing, the colors...they are all very classy. An obvious low budget movie, but definitely not a B movie, the production money was well spent. Absolutely worth watching.

Perhaps the symbolism was heavy handed, but I thought this was a really good low budget movie. What I walked away with was three men, at the end of their prospective careers, each having a decision to make about their next step. And the casting was superb, all men who have had good careers in their own right, but have, for whatever reason, dropped out of the limelight of blockbusters. Andy Garcia never disappoints, but his acting is incredible in this movie (compare his delivery in this movie as a beaten man vs. Oceans Eleven). But I was really surprised at Aidan Quinn, whom I have acknowledged as a good actor, but he really did a great job in this movie. Cinematography was OK, the acting had some gems, there was no good use of sound or music, but the layered story of three men facing their end was compelling. Like I said, given the budget, I thought they did a good job.

It's very annoying to hear a person from other country talk Spanish with an accent from different country. All it takes is one word to ruin the movie. One word...

The Exodus of Charlie Wright works on many different levels. The story, by R. Ellis Frazier is timely considering the recent Bernie Madoff scandal and Frazier gives us a behind the scenes look at a man who scammed 11 Billion dollars from investors and got away with it.

With the FBI on his trail, led by Agent Hobbs (Mario Van Peebles) who is determined to save face with his superior officer, a crass and effective Corbin Bernsen.

Hobbs sets off to find Wright, (Aidan Quinn) but soon finds others on the money trail, including vigilantes hired by one of Wright's victims ( led by Luke Goss) and a Mexican businessman (Andy Garcia) and his brother Danny Pino) who need to find Wright's stashed away money to save themselves from some kind of big debt they have in Mexico City.

With all of the action brewing Tijuana is the perfect backdrop for finding Charlie Wright. Charlie, however is more concerned with finding his long lost daughter and making up for the time he's lost and the lives he's destroyed.

One of the strong points in the film is the consistent depth of acting. All the performances are solid. Van Peebles brings a mature and reflective depth to his role. Garcia adds vulnerability to his strong exterior and Quinn has a depth of soul in his life's reflection that makes watching him so enjoyable.

Strong performances are also turned in by the scene stealing Claudia Ferri as an prostitute who helps Charlie find his daughter and his way. And also Luke Goss as the intense hit-man bent on killing Wright.

The performances can be attributed to strong direction by Frazier and solid editing. Scenes move quickly and the pace is fluid while maintaining the depth of the performances without lagging on any moment too long. The camera moves fluidly and cuts are pinpoint getting to the point and driving home the emotion and action. The action scenes work without any big budget effects, so kudos to the sound, music and editing departments for making it work.

Also solid camera work and lots of hand-held or steadicam shots put you in the action and keep you there. The cinematography really helps set the tone. There are many interesting angles and movements which really help define the character of the film.

Exodus is woven together with a beautiful score. A virtuoso blend of guitar mixed with some orchestral arrangements and strong percussion make listening to the film a pleasure. Some great original songs are also scattered throughout the soundtrack. I especially liked the end title theme.

Another strong point is the sound mix. Really great clarity on blu-ray. My surround speakers picked up the subtle background sounds and a lot of the accented effects punctuated the sound mix to give it a surreal yet realistic feel. The mix was harmonized and balanced.

This is great low budget filmmaking. Judging by the credits list, Frazier did a lot with a very little. This seems to be about a quarter of the staff of a studio film and the results are on par with any major indie, so hats off to all the people who worked on this.

I'm going to watch La Linea this week because I think this is an up and coming writer/director to look out for.

Shame I spent full price on "The Tourist" when "Across the Line" was leagues more enjoyable for a dollar Redbox rental.

Charlie Wright (Aidan Quinn) is a man apart-he ripped off billions from unsuspecting people in a Las Vegas Ponzi scheme and has retreated to Tijuana to escape persecution. His self-imposed exile is quickly interrupted by Andy Garcia's character, a Mexican gangster who wants a shot at Charlie's money, as well as Raymond J. Barry and Luke Goss playing former clients going for revenge.

This was a great film about redemption. I'd agree with another reviewer in that it's an "artsy" portrayal, in that the cinematography is vastly beautiful. The shots of Tijuana and the glimpses of Vegas are astounding for a straight-to-video film.

The cast is also great. Aidan Quinn just knocks it out of the park in the lead role, Luke Goss is great as the leader of a group of thugs that includes the grossly underrated Bokeem Woodbine, and Andy Garcia is pitch-perfect as well. Mario Van Peebles does a great job as the tough federal agent going after Wright.

"Across the Line" was immensely enjoyable, a cool flick with just the right touches of drama and action. Definitely recommended.

With no other reviews of this film at present, I guess I'm working without a net but I'll give it a try. I'll let the pre-provided summary above handle the plot description and move directly into the film itself, which I could best describe as a somewhat "artsy" crime drama, (and I mean that in a good way.)

Filmed mostly in Tijuana, it takes wonderful advantage of the various atmospheres and the smaller sets were also extremely well chosen for realism and visual interest. There are some action sequences but the film is not particularly violent nor "action" oriented, there are numerous personality conflicts and those are what mainly propels the story through the urban Mexican landscape, providing tensions which are occasionally punctuated by violent confrontations.

The players put forth a fine effort in delivering a multi-layered plot which is interesting enough to hold our attention but only barely, it's that type of movie that if you wander away from it for a few minutes, you may not care if you return to finish it. The story-line is littered with implausibilities which in themselves are not deal-breakers, for instance: the quandary of how to arm a foreign hit-squad traveling over the border is beautifully handled by the artifice of having the weapons cached in a pit in a field for them before they arrive but when recovering them, the squad parks about eighty feet away and unnecessarily carries the weapons back to their van in plain view of the surrounding buildings instead of parking right next to the pit and blocking the view of the transfer with the van.

But if it's not going to be uber-realistic like Traffic or testosterone driven like Die Hard or mentally intense like The Usual Suspects or absolutely drip atmosphere like The Godfather or Once Upon a Time in New York or be over-the-top like Kill Bill, it does need something to hook us into it and really hold us there. For me, ultimately that turned out to be the scenery but I don't think that they were actually trying to make a travelogue.

As a kiosk/netflix rental there is enough to recommend here, some great scenery and vignettes, very solid acting, some very good twists and a great score and while the whole may not quite be the sum of the parts it is still a decent enough crime flick.

Looking over reviews of the writer/director's few earlier works it appears he is quickly maturing and there is a lot of potential here, to be certain. His eye is excellent but the story is just a little too clichéd, I'd really like to see his considerable talents utilized in a better story. I would like to see what he, the cast and crew could do with a story that has more impetus, like Man on Fire. I may seem a little harsh because there are no other reviews and I'm trying to cover everything alone; so do your duty - go out and rent it and write an accompanying review.

Tbh regardless of the fact whether this was based off of a true story, or not I cared more about the cartel storyline than Charlie Wright. You really don't know much about him besides the fbi being after him, and that he has a daughter in Mexíco. Love Mario Van Pebbles tho.

It is one of the best films I've seen this year, which proves that low- budget films can be as good as lavish Hollywood ones. Of course, it is an homage to Ken Annakin's "Across the Bridge" (1957), which, in its turn, was an adaptation of Graham Greene's short story. It also has a banker who commits embezzlement and flees to Mexico, even though the banker in the newer film is a much more likable person - at least, Aidan Quinn makes him that. Both bankers achieve redemption in the end, but in very different ways, and this is where all the similarities end. Aidan Quinn, Mario Van Peebles and Andy Garcia are very good matches for their roles; actually, the whole actors' ensemble is impressive. Somebody described this flick as an action movie; in fact, it is not, even though tension builds up towards the end. Another reviewer doubted that the FBI budge could make such a profound impression on Mexican police and mercenaries; my take on it is, it surely can, especially if you don't forget that the events take place very close to the US border. Overall, it is a very good film, and I was pleasantly surprised with its quality (which includes camera work). It comes highly recommended.

I started this movie and got pulled into the story. I was hoping the love affair between the hooker and Quinn would develop into something permanent but just dribbled off into nothing. He did send her a gift at the end. The shoot out in the bull ring remined me of the ring I visited in Acapulco in 1979. Too many memories. The entire premise is a good one with lots of action and shoot outs. You FEEL for Quinn even though a lot of people lost their life savings because of scoundrels just like him. The hooker Mary keeps the story going as we all feel for her and her plight of getting old and "wrinkled" as she says. Also, If he had all the billions of dollars, why didn't he just HIRE a protection team of his own, instead of hiding from everyone else?

Across The Line: The Exodus Of Charlie Wright is the very definition of overlooked. It was probably underfunded and squeaked forth through meager marketing a few years ago, neither of which has prevented it from triumphing as a sharp little sleeper flick that of course nobody saw. The central theme is age and regret, each character finding themselves at some sad crossroads, placed there by the decisions they've made in the past and the ways in which they have conducted themselves up to the final act of their lives. To observe people at such a stage haunts you as much as it does them, and made for a film that took a while to get out of my head. Aiden Quinn plays Charlie Wright, a billionaire financial genius whose empire has been exposed as nothing more than a pitiful ponzi scheme, right under his unwitting nose. He is in self imposed exile in Mexico, and soon the consequences rain down on him in the form of several different pursuers. A Mexican gangster (Andy Garcia) wants him, as well as a Russian (Elya Baskin) and his dodgy American representitive (Raymond J. Barry). The FBI has their sights on him as well, in the form of a weary looking Mario Van Peebles, sanctioned by the Director (Corbin Bernson). There's also a trio of merceneries headed up by a dogged Luke Goss, Bokeem Woodbine and Gary Daniels who have been deployed south of the border to hunt him. It sounds like a bunch of commotion, but I found it to be a very reserved meditation on just how far people are willing to stand by their life choices when they see what's become of the goals they had in mind when they made said choices in the first place. Quinn is the most understated, yet speaks the loudest as a man on the run from the world. Gina Gershon makes an emotional impact as a woman involved with Garcia, who is also great. South of the border intrigue. Ponderous introspect. A winning recipe.

It is the biggest story of the last five years, yet H-wood will not touch Bernie Madoff because he sold them out and he sold out his own people.

Instead we get films like Across The Line, a shaky shot that takes Bernie's story and dumps it on an anglo guy seekng redemption.

Shaky camera equals tension in this one - to the director that is...to the audience it plays like an episode of 24.

Low budget...original dramaesque.

The real story of a billion dollar ponzi is right there: The criminal Madoff, the son who pays the sins of the father. Is Hollywood brave enough to tell it...only if they change the name of the man.