Border Town (2009)

Great Film overall

Absolutely Fantastic

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Man who has been on a bloody five year quest to find his daughter who was kidnapped by human traffickers has at last found his daughter and the man responsible in a small corrupt border town just in Mexico . They know he's coming and he knows they know and what happens when he gets there is the movie. Super action film probably would have been a main stay of the grind-house movie theaters in their heyday. This is a film with good good guys, bad bad guys, funny lines and lots of action. Think of it as a sort of play on Robert Rodriguez's Desperado. I mention this to tell you what its like but not to lessen the film by comparison. This is one of those small scale gems that run the danger of getting lost in the waves of direct to video movies. Where most of the films released that way are not worth your time this one really is. Its one of the few films that I wanted to start again when it ended. It's a super film that action fans need to search out. It's a film that I'm going to be recommending to all my friends who like action films. While it would be easy to say that this is the best film that Maverick Releasing has put out I would add that this is probably one of the best films put out by any of the small releasing companies.(I like Maverick and I've appreciated a large number of their titles which have run the gamut from good to awful, but have on the whole been at least interesting even when they failed.) If you're an action film you really want to see this.

You will not live long enough to waste 90 minutes of your life watching this dire, dire movie. I don't know where to begin. It is so bad it isn't even funny, just sad. I kept watching it against my better judgement in case it would get better along the way, but it got worse. The plot is simple, but the acting for the most part is utterly abysmal; one dimensional characters spouting clichés after clichés without a trace of acting ability amongst them (with the exception of Linda Rodriguez who plays the part of Isabella). There is a huge shoot out scene that stretches credibility into another dimension in terms of the number of bullets fired by baddies that fail to hit their target which is all of 5 metres away. It is impossible to empathise with the main character who is so incredibly wooden in everything he says and does. I could go on but I won't because I have already wasted too much time watching this travesty of a movie. You have been warned!

"Border Town" A Law Less Modern Day Mexican Western spins a tale of a deadly town disarmingly affable--and the small-time family man, desperate enough to find his only Daughter. It aims to be a straight-up Mexican Western and deliver the excitement and charisma the genre's fans are starved for. Recognizing that contemporary viewers might be out of touch with the simplicity and strength of the genre--not to mention its code of honor-- This is a surprisingly GREAT movie! Great action climax, the crossfire of personal agendas is almost as frenetic as the copious gun play. Actors performances are sincere and aching and sometimes comedic ( Newcomer Linda Rodriguez who plays Isabella has a Fearless and Provocative performance -- not to be missed ) The greatest part of "Border Town" is that it transcends all boundaries: race, gender, class and region. Having never seen a modern day Law Less Mexican WESTERN film, "Border Town" proves there is a whole genre that is being ignored. Thankfully, "Border Town" has been able to break a door down."Border Town" is a must Watch-

We've seen the story here done a few times and better at that, but for an indie with a low budget it's watchable, even entertaining, if you get past some of the predictability and the rote, many times laughable dialog. To be in a genre with past masters like Sergio Leonne and even newer homage paying directors like Robert Rodriquez, well, the going is tough as it sets the bar almost beyond indie reach (I know I'm going be called for this as Rodriquez did amazing stuff as an indie, but he definitely is more the exception than the rule).It isn't a classic by any stretch, but with better dialog and more cinematic, "film-like" (i.e. not video) visuals it would likely be a stronger contender as the actors and actresses, though unknown, turn in decent characterizations. As you can tell, I find it lacking a bit yet entertaining enough to watch.