Borderline (1980)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Jerrold Freedman

Writers:

Jerrold Freedman (writer)
Steve Kline (writer)

Release Date:

23 January 1981 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Somewhere along a thousand miles of barbed wire border the American dream has become a nightmare

Plot Keywords:

Footprint | Man Hunt | Death | Dead Boy | Murder

Cast

Charles Bronson	...	Jeb Maynard
Bruno Kirby	...	Jimmy Fante
Bert Remsen	...	Carl J. Richards
Michael Lerner	...	Henry Lydell
Kenneth McMillan	...	Malcolm Wallace
Ed Harris	...	Hotchkiss
Karmin Murcelo	...	Elena Morales
Enrique Castillo	...	Arturo
Wilford Brimley	...	Scooter Jackson (as A. Wilford Brimley)
Norman Alden	...	Willie Lambert
James Victor	...	Mirandez
Panchito Gómez	...	Benito Morales
John Ashton	...	Charlie Monroe
Lawrence P. Casey	...	Andy Davis (as Lawrence Casey)
Charles Cyphers	...	Ski

Runtime:

USA:97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | West Germany:12 (f) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | UK:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Rock (1996)

Acceptable fare, I think, for fans of Charles Bronson.

Charles Bronson vehicle in which he once again plays a standard issue Bronson character - this time, he's the boss of a Border Patrol station who's looking for a thug with an itchy trigger finger (Ed Harris, in his first major film role) who's killed both a comrade of Bronson's and an innocent kid.

The movie itself is nothing special - certainly watchable, competently if not stylishly made, but it moves well enough, and it tackles the still quite relevant topic of illegal immigration but does so without hammering the audience over the head about it.

Top-notch supporting cast really helps, with a good assortment of really first-rate actors, although one of the best roles of the film actually goes to Karmin Murcelo, as the grief-stricken mother of the dead kid who reluctantly gives Bronson assistance in his investigation. Harris also gives a hint of his solid work to come in the years ahead.

There have been better Bronson vehicles than this but there have also been worse. I liked it well enough.

6/10