Worn-out tequila sunrise

THE BORDER (1982)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Tony Richardson's "The Border" is two movies in one - a scathing criticism of the border patrol agents in El Paso, Texas and a human story of salvation. The criticism works in spades, the salvation story just barely.

Jack Nicholson plays Charlie Smith, an exasperated border patrol cop from L.A.,who has just accepted a new job in El Paso, TX after living in a trailer with his money-hungry wife (Valerie Perrine). Of course, her idea of money-hungry is living in shared quarters with another border cop and his wife, and revitalizing their rather cramped quarters into a dream house by buying a new plastic-sealed couch on credit. The fellow border cop is Cat (Harvey Keitel), a man involved in shady dealings with the illegal immigrants. There is no real dilemma on immigration presented here - it merely states the corruption of these cops with dollar signs when it comes to smuggling people and buying newborn babies for wealthy families. Cat and his superiors are involved (including a far too brief performance by Warren Oates) and it pays their way, including allowing some illegals do work as day laborers, but it is all a front - money is the motive and murder is occasionally a necessary evil. The Rio Grande is the dividing line.

Charlie wants nothing to do with it - his conscience is put to the test. Should he turn a blind eye and allow such injustice, including the selling of a baby from one unfortunate, caring mother (Elpidia Carrillo, who says more with a look than a line of dialogue)? Or will Charlie kowtow to their efforts and keep doing a job that is useless and uncertain so as to keep his wife happy? Unfortunately, the symptomatic problem of this illegal operation is barely given much depth. The illegals, with the exception of Carrillo, become background fodder and the movie never illuminates the issues. It is all in the service of a suspense thriller by the end with two unsatisfactory freeze-frames that seemingly resolve the salvation of a character, yet further dim the narrative.

Nicholson works up a fever pitch of a performance, especially scenes with Perrine where he begins to wonder about the status of his life. Mostly Nicholson is watchable but rather forgettable in the role - had he switched parts with Harvey Keitel, I would have had more sympathy with Keitel as Charlie. Still, for a film that touches on the immigration problem at all (and let us not forget that it is still an issue today), it is passable entertainment but it just misses the mark of making the most of a pressing issue.