Borderline (2002)

Excellent but underrated film

Brilliant and touching

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Basically it pretty average TV thriller, not much more. As a filler between advertising blocks it works. However it much be point or two better if it would be more readable. Some simplification might help here a little.The problem is the last part that uses really extreme number of twists. There is so much twists in the last ten minutes that the movie allows multiple explanations or interpretations. In the end it is not clear if the patient did it or he was pushed to it by the doctor - both alternatives seem to be acceptable.The movie would definitely pass with less dead people and would be more realistic as well.

A miserable movie. The script is plain awful, and the acting other than Gershon's is rotten, but then again, the actors had few options with such a laughably bad script to work with. Every interaction between characters is stilted, and even when the acting isn't technically awful, it's more on par with a made-for-TV movie. Like I said, only Gershon holds her own in this thing. This movie played like some non-cinema person's fantasy about how cool it would be to make a movie. Sure, they try for a sort of big twist at the end, but by then the gratingly juvenile quality of the movie makes it not matter very much.

The psychiatrist Dr. Lila Colleti (Gina Gershon) is a woman with a trauma in her childhood that is divorcing her husband. She works in a penitentiary with disturbed prisoners that like her. Her ex-husband Paul Colleti (Nick Boraine) and she are disputing the custody of their two daughters in court, and Paul wins the dispute. Paul brings the daughters to his house and Lila becomes depressive and upset. She goes to a bar, where she meets the former prisoner and patient Ciro Ruiz (Jon Huertas), and uses drugs with alcohol, having a blackout. In the night, Paul and her girlfriend are murdered, and Lila becomes the prime suspect. Det. Macy Kobacek (Michael Biehn), who is her boyfriend, is in charge of the investigation with his partner Det. Frank Hagen (Eddie Driscoll), and Lila accuses her manipulative patient Ed Baikman (Sean Patrick Flanery) to her boyfriend. However, all the evidences are against Lila and Macy is not sure of who is the killer. "Borderline" is an ambiguous low budget thriller with a story of manipulation that has flaws in the screenplay, but holds the attention of the viewer until the last scene. Unfortunately the conclusion is not clear and the director Evelyn Maude Purcell fails. It seems that her intention might be to keep the doubt of who is manipulating who, Ed Baikman or Dr. Lila Colleti. After watching for the second time, one possible interpretation is that Lila is so manipulative that has an affair with Macy to have someone to help her in the police department and manipulates Ed Baikman to make him the scapegoat of the murder. In the end, she stays alone with her daughters that was her prime objective. Doesn't it make sense? Last but not the least, the forty years old Gina Gershon is still a very sexy woman and is another attraction in this above-average film. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Distúrbio Mortal" ('Mortal Disturbance")Note: On 16 February 2016 I saw this movie again.

This picture was filmed in Capetown, South Africa with expert talent and a script far superior to a lot of recent Hollywood thriller crap (like Bullock's MURDER BY NUMBERS, Spacey's DAVID GALE and any of those Ashley Judd potboilers she made with Morgan Freeman, to name a few). This is a nicely contrived murder mystery featuring a strong female lead and some intelligent supporting players; even the obligatory child factor was nicely handled in this particular case. It's an adult murder noir with some smart character interplay. Choice of it's kind.