The Border

Universal/RKO. Director Tony Richardson; Producer Edgar Bronfman Jr; Screenplay Deric Washburn, Walon Green, David Freeman; Camera Ric Waite, Vilmos Zsigmond; Editor Robert K. Lambert; Music Ry Cooder; Art Director Toby Rafelson

Jack Nicholson
Harvey Keitel
Valerie Perrine
Warren Oates
Elpidia Carrillo
Shannon Wilcox

Despite Jack Nicholson's multi-leveled performance, The Border is a surprisingly uninvolving film. Story of the personal and professional pressures on border patrol guard Nicholson, caught between right and wrong on both fronts, becomes murky and disjointed under Tony Richardson's uninspired direction.

Nicholson etches a nice guy victimized by his surroundings instead of an eccentric. Living in depressed circumstances with whiney, materialistic wife Valerie Perrine, he is the quintessential poor working stiff.

Nicholson is then befriended by Harvey Keitel, husband of Perrine's bimbo girlfriend and a fellow guard. It is their job to make sure none of the Mexicans over the border get into the US a task to which the humane Nicholson is ill-suited.

This is particularly the case once Nicholson views the rampant corruption of his fellow workers. The situation escalates as the baby of a poor, beautiful Mexican girl is kidnapped for adoption and Nicholson has to decide whether to stand by or take action.

The picture was already in the can when Universal decided to go back and shoot a much more upbeat ending where Nicholson emerges as hero.

(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1982. Running time: 107 MIN.

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