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A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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.

"It isn't free trade; it's slave trade; it's a ... scam", yells investigative reporter Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez), to her newspaper boss George Morgan (Martin Sheen). They're arguing about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the villain in this film about the injustices of NAFTA border factories toward their women workers, and in particular about the border town of Juarez, on the Rio Grande, across from El Paso, Texas.The script's characters and plot are fictional. But they are set against a backdrop of a real-life situation that has been going on for years. Poorly paid young Mexican women are raped and killed in these NAFTA border towns. Nobody really cares, least of all the cold corporations that employ the women.In "Bordertown", George Morgan sends Lauren to Juarez to get a story. She does. But what she finds is that the real killers are more powerful and shadowy than she imagined. It's a situation not unlike what Karen Silkwood faced when she tried to investigate a nuclear plant.The film is thus highly political. Its message overpowers the story. Most viewers will sympathize with the message. But what about the story? The characters are not entirely believable. For example, the young Mexican woman whom Lauren befriends can't seem to speak English when they first meet. And Lauren says she can't speak Spanish. Yet later, the young woman and Lauren chat up a storm both in English and Spanish, a dialogue necessity, no doubt, to placate viewers. The plot's climax is Hollywood sensationalized, which detracts from the authenticity of the message.Color cinematography is very high contrast, which works well, given the good vs. evil theme. Prod design and costumes are quite realistic. The filming in Mexico gives credibility to the story, though filming entirely in Juarez was not possible owing to the physical danger. Acting is acceptable. Lopez does a fine job.My impression is that "Bordertown" was not given a proper theatrical release here in the U.S. because of its tough political message, which speaks volumes, if true. But despite some imperfections in its script, the film deserves to be seen by viewers, and specifically because of that potent underlying message.

There can be a special elegance to a movie that touches the human condition honestly and with clarity. Add to that the harshest of unrealized economic realities and you have Bordertown, a film just as significant to our future as to our past. For it shows us in the least compromising terms, what the trends of today are creating for the reality of tomorrow. It is a movie this reviewer had thought would never be made. Not since Apocalypse Now, has Martin Sheen delivered his role so magnificently. As the newspaper editor, George Morgan, his delivery of lines in a particular scene (summing up these aforementioned trends,) is comparable with that elegant rendering of Sir Richard Burton when that late great stands before the bar to indict a system showing neither fairness or justice to his client in the Medusa Touch.Jennifer Lopez as Lauren Adrian, an investigative reporter sent into a story neither her editor or her can imagine in scope, IS the part. Revealing just how capable she is with character delineation, Lopez excels beyond all expectation. Had this performance been on the stage, five minutes of "bravo" would have ensued at curtain. Writer/director Gregory Nava is to be applauded on every score, not the least of which is his courage.This reviewer does not say this easily nor lightly: If adequately promoted for what it was worth and for the import of its message, this movie might have changed the course of history if made a decade earlier. It still might make its mark in helping to remedy the economic and political madness now placed on the world's table. Highly, highly, highly recommended. JCH

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Based around the true story of a series (or reportedly over a thousand!) cases of rape and murder of women in the Mexican town of Juarez, this has Jennifer Lopez as Lauren Adrian, an ambitious reporter who is sent to the town to investigate the crimes in exchange for getting a Foreign Correspondents job from her boss (Martin Sheen.) Once there, she runs into an old flame (Antonio Banderas) and learns the police are prohibiting any media discussion on the cases. She also comes into contact with Eva (Maya Zapata) who has survived an attack by the killer and has crawled out of her own grave. The young woman believes the devil himself is committing these crimes. A more cynical Lauren wants a flesh and blood suspect- but a haunting wall of silence is standing in her way.Any film with a political subtext is always going to run into controversy, but Bordertown would appear to have been a bigger victim than any other. It's facing a straight to DVD release in the US and if that happens, I can't see it faring any better over here, to be honest. The reason for the hush up of it's existence, it would appear, is so the US maintains good relations with the government of Mexico, and avoids pointing the finger at it and crying 'corruption.' That's the theory anyway, but if events have played out like they have in Bordertown there's little to prove the film wrong.One thing this impressive but grim film must be noted for is Lopez's performance in the lead role. She's really improved as an actress here, not trying too hard or over emoting anymore, just carrying the film with a natural air and grace that the role requires. She has good support, too, in the shape of Zapata, Sheen and Banderas, all giving their roles their all and making the story more dynamic as a result. Director Gregory Nova adds a tense air of mystery and dread to the tale, with some neat seat edge moments and constant air of danger.As if this disturbing and unsettling story isn't jolting enough, imagine how I felt watching it on my new widescreen Sony TV and thinking: the women in the story may have made that, working and going to/from work in the unfair and unsafe environment they do. Hell, even the laptop I'm writing this on now may have been made by them. As well as providing a thrilling but haunting true life story, Bordertown also opens your eyes to the equivalent of modern slave labour that provides us westerners with every luxury we enjoy and the true cost it comes at. ****