Borderline (2002) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Borderline is a straight-to-cable thriller.

Gina Gershon is a workaholic psychotherapist whose daughters are taken away from her by a court order, based on a suit by her vindictive and despised ex-husband. Her ex and his girlfriend are murdered the same day that they came for the kids. Meanwhile, one of Gershon's patients has been released from prison, and the murders follow the exact pattern of his previous criminal acts.

The mystery lies in the fact that there are three possible solutions to the murders. Did Gershon commit the murders in the fashion of her patient, thus framing him? Did the patient commit the murders because of his obsession with Gershon? Or did Gershon manipulate the patient into committing the murders to serve her purpose?

NUDITY REPORT

None. Gina Gershon does spend some time in a semi-diaphanous nightgown, with only a thong underneath, but she remains fully dressed in her sex scene.

This is really a grade-B thriller, and the screenwriter simply ignored with a very important element. The killer was seen by the children. Later, the crazy guy was terrorizing Gershon's house, taunting her by swinging the kids on the outside swing set. Now think about it:

1) if Gershon killed her ex, why didn't her own children recognize her when she herded them safely into the bedroom?

2) if the psycho killed Gershon's ex, why did the kids play with him later? Why didn't they say, "oh, you're the guy who killed our daddy"?

3) we know that the killer wasn't wearing a mask, because we saw faces of the kids at the moment when he or she walked in the sliding door. They were not terrified. Surely, a masked man or woman carrying a knife would have frightened them.

In other words, none of the three possible solutions conforms to the facts of the case.

The other complication of the plot is that Gershon is dating the police investigator who is assigned to the case. What are the odds?

DVD info from Amazon

  • Widescreen anamorphic 1.85:1. It looks excellent.

  • No major features.

There are some positives as well:

1. The production is mounted handsomely for a low budget film, and the actors are quite competent.

2. I never fast-forwarded, and I didn't figure out whether Gershon was involved in the murders until the moment it was revealed.

3. If you are a fan of Gina Gershon, she looked marvelous and did a competent job in her role.

The Critics Vote

  • no reviews on line

The People Vote ...

 

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this film is a C-. It is a genre picture of minimal acceptable quality. There is no special appeal, however, except to die-hard Gershon fans and to those who just have to see every whodunit.

Return to the Movie House home page