There was an era, once upon a time when Sharon Stone could
carry an entire movie. That time, however, is now far, far in the past. Once
she was nominated for an Oscar, but she does not have the chops to headline a
film in this day and age. Nowhere is this point so clear as with her new
direct-to-video effort, “Border Run,” a movie that sets out to be a harrowing
examination of human trafficking along the US/Mexico border, but that is
crushed under the heavy hand of its own message of injustice.
Stone plays Sophie Talbot, an ultra-right wing Arizona
television reporter. She’s fond of ambushing politicians who have gone soft on
illegal immigration, and, a severe workaholic, she has no life whatsoever. On
the eve of breaking a big story, Sophie feels wistful, and gives her lefty,
humanitarian aid worker brother Aaron (Billy Zane) a call. In the process of
assisting with a clandestine border crossing, Aaron picks up the phone just as
unknown forces ambush him. Sophie is just in time to hear the obvious sounds of
struggle followed by a gunshot.
In true entitled white lady fashion, she storms down to
Mexico, into the treacherous underworld of smugglers, drug lords, and coyotes,
completely indifferent to the danger, leaning on the fact that she’s an
American, god damn-it, to keep her from harm. Driven by her nationalistic ego,
at every turn she does the exact opposite of people tell her to do. Can’t
imagine that going wrong, can you? At one point she does take a sidebar for a
forced, awkward romantic interlude where she gets drunk and sexy for a moment
with a hot friend of Aaron.
You see where the story is headed from the very first scene.
Perhaps Sophie will come to the realization that the immigration issue is not quite
as black and white as she initially thinks? She’ll come to this conclusion with
the help of a pregnant couple looking for a better life for their baby, a young
girl navigating this sinister world all on her own, and a chubby guy with
asthma. Nothing good is in store for any of these people.
It’s too bad that “Border Run” botches everything so
completely, because buried underneath all of the simplistic moralizing and
Stone’s tearful—and atrocious—rant to an unsympathetic border guard, there’s a
compelling story. The world of illicit border crossings, human trafficking, and
callous exploitation of pain and misery, is one ripe with drama and full of
stories not often explored in movies.
In the middle of “Border Run”—after the obvious set up, but
before the shitty twist ending with an additional shitty twist ending tacked on
for good measure (and no, I’m not kidding)—is a story almost, I repeat,
almost worth watching. There’s action, tension, the pace
glides along at a decent clip, and you’re immersed in this world of shadows,
lies, and brutality. But the film is so over the top in trying to drive home
the point that it derails the entire plot. Filmmakers need to learn that you
can tell a strong, personal story that is just as political as one that pounds
its fist on the table. In this case they care more about the message than the
narrative, though in this case a simple account would be so much more moving.
“Border Run” is filmed in that blanched out style that so
many digital films set in a desert use as a visual device. Trying to add grit
to the film, this is an unforgiving choice as it accentuates every last flaw,
and let’s just say that time has not been kind to Sharon Stone, and brown is
not a good hair color for her. Scenes alternate between being so bright that
they almost burn your retinas and so dark and muddy that you can barely see
what’s going on. You can tell that Anchor Bay doesn’t expect too much out of
this Blu-ray release, because there is absolutely nothing here but the film.
There are no features, no commentaries, and nary a gag reel to be found. The
sound mix is up and down throughout the entire movie, and hell, there aren’t
even any previews to wade through before you get to the main menu.
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