The Border (1982 film)

The Border
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tony Richardson
Written by	Deric Washburn Walon Green David Freeman
Produced by	Edgar Bronfman Jr.
Starring	Jack Nicholson Harvey Keitel Valerie Perrine Warren Oates Elpidia Carrillo Dirk Blocker
Cinematography	Ric Waite
Edited by	Robert K. Lambert
Music by	Ry Cooder
Production companies	Efer Productions RKO Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	February 12, 1982 (1982-02-12)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$22 million[1]
Box office	$6,118,683 (US)[2]

The Border is a 1982 American neo-noir^[3] dramatic crime thriller film directed by Tony Richardson and starring Jack Nicholson alongside Harvey Keitel, Valerie Perrine, Elpidia Carrillo and Warren Oates.

Immigration enforcement agent Charlie Smith lives in California with his wife, Marcy, in a trailer. She persuades him to move to a duplex in El Paso, Texas shared by her friend and border agent Cat. Marcy longs for a life of luxury and sees a chance to do so with this move. She opens a charge account and starts to purchase expensive items (like a water bed) as she tries to build a dream home.

Cat gradually introduces Charlie to the human smuggling operation he runs with their supervisor Red. Though Charlie initially declines to participate, his wife's free-spending ways make him finally take part in the operation. Meanwhile, a young Mexican mother, Maria, that he has observed is detained, and while she is in their custody, one of Cat's drivers abducts her baby for an illegal adoption. Cat warns the driver not to do anything but transport people in trucks, and that if he runs drugs or babies, Cat will hurt him.

Charlie finally realizes that Cat and Red are killing drivers who make money off side ventures or anyone who gets in their way. Charlie makes it clear to Cat that he will not be a party to murder. In the film's climax, he is forced to kill Cat. He tracks down the kidnapped infant and returns it to Maria.

The opening earthquake scenes were filmed in Antigua, specifically in La Recoleccion ruins,^[4] and Guatemala City.^{[citation needed]}

Vincent Canby of The New York Times said the movie "has the sort of predictable outrage and shape of a made-for-television movie. It has suspense but little excitement. Once the people and the situation have been introduced, there's not a single surprise in the film, nothing of the uncharacteristic sort that differentiates the adequate melodrama from one that is special and memorable. Like so many films prompted by real-life social problems, The Border is a movie in which the characters appear to have been created to fit the events. Missing is any sense of particularity, as well as the excitement that comes when the members of the audience are allowed to discover some sort of truth for themselves."^[5]

Gene Siskel, in his review for the Chicago Tribune, praised the way Nicholson served the film but criticised the ending.^[6]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 65% from 26 reviews. The site's consensus states: "It makes frustratingly facile work of its thorny premise, but Jack Nicholson's gritty lead performance keeps The Border worth watching."^[7] Among the positive reviews were Siskel & Ebert, who both gave the film a collective "Yes".^[8]

• The Border at IMDb
• The Border at the TCM Movie Database
• The Border at Letterboxd
• The Border at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Border at Rotten Tomatoes