Best movie ever!

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Surprising touching story from Jack Nicholson at his best performance in this priceless picture...The Border is a unique movie that have a serious treatment at borderline between Mexico and America focusing a particular case of a young widow when your baby was stolen by Mexican coyote who intent to sell to a rich family....Nicholson was involved in corruption since your life style was in roller-coaster by your fancy woman....the score music is outstanding like Across the Borderline song whose is fantastic covered by Freddie Fender in the most finest version!!!A movie to watch and see what's happening until today!!!

Maria (Elpidia Carrillo) leaves her earthquake ravaged homeland with her children. Charlie Smith (Jack Nicholson) is a world-weary US Bureau of Naturalization and Immmigration agent in L.A. living with his wife Marcy (Valerie Perrine) in a run-down trailer. Then he gets a new job in the border patrol in Texas with a nice house to please his wife. He and his partner Cat (Harvey Keitel) catch a group of illegals including Maria. Cat tries to pull him into his corruption which causes a major rift.I like the dusty ugly border world. Nicholson does a good job but this is not an exciting movie. It doesn't have good cinematic style. This is more at a TV movie level. I think Charlie Smith would be more compelling if he is a naive newbie.

I remember seeing this movie at a seedy downtown LA theater, the second film of a double bill that I almost walked out on before it began. I was glad I stayed. I don't remember what the feature film was, but I have never forgotten this movie.Jack Nicholson plays a on-the-take border patrol cop trying to go straight, but surrounded by corruption on both sides of the fence. He finally has to choose between fitting in by being a dirt bag, and being true to himself and cutting his ties with his buddies and his family.The border is not only a fence between two countries, it's a moral line between decency and indecency, between moral compromise and being a truly humane and compassionate person regardless of the consequences.The acting is superb, and the the plot could not be more timely. So give this box office bomb a go soon! It's a real diamond in the rough.

this film is superb on many levels. while jack nicholson and harvey keitel both have an impressively long list of masterly performances, I believe this film ranks near the tops of their oeuvres with a handful of their other performances in films like "the shining" and "the passenger" for nicholson or "the duellists" and "bad timing" for keitel. all of the supporting cast members deliver excellent performances as well. the scenery is beautiful and is shot well. both the story and the dialogue are superlative. The plot progresses dramatically yet plausibly, at no point is the viewer obliged to suspend her disbelief as nicholson's character is backed into a corner by the circumstances developing around him. The action sequences are both dramatic and believable. go watch this film.