View source for The Border (1982 film)

{{Short description|1982 film by Tony Richardson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Border
| image          = Border imp.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Tony Richardson]]
| producer       = [[Edgar Bronfman Jr.]]
| writer         = [[Deric Washburn]]<br />[[Walon Green]]<br />[[David Freeman (screenwriter)|David Freeman]]
| starring       = [[Jack Nicholson]]<br />[[Harvey Keitel]]<br />[[Valerie Perrine]]<br />[[Warren Oates]]<br />[[Elpidia Carrillo]]<br />[[Dirk Blocker]]
| music          = [[Ry Cooder]]
| cinematography = [[Ric Waite]]
| editing        = Robert K. Lambert
| studio         = Efer Productions<br />[[RKO Pictures]]
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1982|2|12}}
| runtime        = 108 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $22 million<ref>{{cite web |title = The Border (1982) - Box office / business |url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083678/business |work = [[Internet Movie Database]] |access-date = March 19, 2011 }}</ref>
| gross          = $6,118,683 (US)<ref>{{cite web |title = The Border (1982) |url = https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=border.htm |work = [[Box Office Mojo]] |publisher = [[Internet Movie Database]] |access-date = March 19, 2011 }}</ref>
}}

'''''The Border''''' is a 1982 American [[neo-noir]]<ref>[[Alain Silver|Silver, Alain]]; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). ''Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style'' (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: [[The Overlook Press]]. {{ISBN|0-87951-479-5}}</ref> [[drama film|dramatic]] [[crime thriller film]] directed by [[Tony Richardson]] and starring [[Jack Nicholson]] alongside [[Harvey Keitel]], [[Valerie Perrine]], [[Elpidia Carrillo]] and [[Warren Oates]].

==Plot==
Immigration enforcement agent Charlie Smith lives in California with his wife, Marcy, in a trailer. She persuades him to move to a duplex in [[El Paso, Texas]], shared by her friend and border agent Cat.  Marcy longs for a life of luxury and sees a chance to do so with this move. She opens a charge account and starts to purchase expensive items (like a water bed) as she tries to build a dream home.

Cat gradually introduces Charlie to the [[human smuggling]] operation he runs with their supervisor Red. Though Charlie initially declines to participate, his wife's free-spending ways make him finally take part in the operation. Meanwhile, a young Mexican mother, Maria, that he has observed is detained, and while she is in their custody, one of Cat's drivers abducts her baby for an illegal adoption. Cat warns the driver not to do anything but transport people in trucks, and that if he runs drugs or babies, Cat will hurt him.

Charlie finally realizes that Cat and Red are killing drivers who make money off side ventures or anyone who gets in their way. Charlie makes it clear to Cat that he will not be a party to murder. In the film's climax, he is forced to kill Cat. He tracks down the kidnapped infant and returns it to Maria.

==Cast==
<!--- [[MOS:FILMCAST]] [[WP:NOTDATABASE]] - cast and order per Main Cast [[opening credits]], roles per [[closing credits]] scroll --->
{{Cast listing|
* [[Jack Nicholson]] as Charlie Smith
* [[Harvey Keitel]] as Cat
* [[Valerie Perrine]] as Marcy
* [[Warren Oates]] as Red
* [[Elpidia Carrillo]] as Maria
* [[Shannon Wilcox]] as Savannah
* Manuel Viescas as Juan
* [[Jeff Morris (actor)|Jeff Morris]] as J.J.
* [[Dirk Blocker]] as Beef
* Mike Gomez as Manuel
* [[Lonny Chapman]] as Andy
}}

==Production notes==
Nicholson joined the project after [[Robert Blake (actor)|Robert Blake]], who had originally been cast in the lead role, dropped out.<ref name="McGilligan372">McGilligan, Patrick (2015). ''Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 372.</ref> As soon as Nicholson became involved, the film's budget increased from $4.5 million to $14.5 million, and continued to rise.<ref name="McGilligan372" /> Nicholson and director Tony Richardson had known each other since the [[1966 Cannes Film Festival]], in which Richardson's film ''[[Mademoiselle (1966 film)|Mademoiselle]]'' was in competition.<ref name="McGilligan372" /> Nicholson declined a role in [[Miloš Forman|Miloš Forman's]] ''[[Ragtime (film)|Ragtime]]'' in order to portray the character of Charlie Smith.<ref name="Eliot193">Eliot, Marc (2013). ''Nicholson: A Biography''. New York: Crown Archetype. p. 193.</ref>

Two weeks after production began in El Paso, the [[1980 actors strike]] forced a shutdown that lasted 11 weeks. As a result, the original cinematographer, [[Vilmos Zsigmond]], was unable to return to the project and was replaced by [[Ric Waite]].<ref name="McGilligan373">McGilligan, Patrick (2015). ''Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 373.</ref>

In his memoir ''The Long-Distance Runner'', Richardson described Nicholson as someone who "liked to be told where to be and what to do, and who could instantly deliver the goods required. In terms of stating or playing a scene, Jack didn't want to experiment or to try different ideas, but whatever I asked he would do—and with great authority."<ref name="McGilligan374">McGilligan, Patrick (2015). ''Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 374.</ref>

The film's original ending, in which Nicholson's character bombed the Border Patrol headquarters and was subsequently imprisoned, was deemed too negative by preview audiences. A new ending was filmed one year after principal photography, with Zsigmond returning as cinematographer, at an estimated additional cost of $1.5 million.<ref name="McGilligan375">McGilligan, Patrick (2015). ''Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 375.</ref>

The opening earthquake scenes were filmed in [[Antigua Guatemala|Antigua]], specifically in [[La Recolección Architectural Complex|La Recoleccion ruins]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO647SjRv9c |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/XO647SjRv9c |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=YouTube|title=The Border (introduction)|year=1982|access-date=26 October 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and [[Guatemala City]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

The soundtrack contains the [[Jim Dickinson]], [[John Hiatt]], and [[Ry Cooder]] song "Across the Borderline" performed by [[Freddy Fender]].

==Reception==
[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' said the movie "has the sort of predictable outrage and shape of a made-for-television movie. It has suspense but little excitement. Once the people and the situation have been introduced, there's not a single surprise in the film, nothing of the uncharacteristic sort that differentiates the adequate melodrama from one that is special and memorable. Like so many films prompted by real-life social problems, ''The Border'' is a movie in which the characters appear to have been created to fit the events. Missing is any sense of particularity, as well as the excitement that comes when the members of the audience are allowed to discover some sort of truth for themselves."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-01-31 |title=Movie Reviews |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/movies |access-date=2023-01-31 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

[[Gene Siskel]], in his review for the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', praised the way Nicholson served the film but criticized the ending.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1982-01-29 |title=Chicago Tribune The Border review* |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-chicago-tribune-the-bord/82922342/ |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds a rating of 65% from 26 reviews. The site's consensus states: "It makes frustratingly facile work of its thorny premise, but Jack Nicholson's gritty lead performance keeps ''The Border'' worth watching."<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1002907-border | title=The Border | website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] }}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CinemaScore |url=http://www.cinemascore.com/find_a_movie.epl?id=The_Border |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020108054357/http://www.cinemascore.com/find_a_movie.epl?id=The_Border |archive-date=2002-01-08 |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=cinemascore.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0083678|title=The Border}}
* {{TCMDb title|22607|title=The Border}}
* {{Letterboxd film|the-border}}
* {{AFI film|56735}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|1002907-border}}

{{Tony Richardson}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Border (1982 film), The}}
[[Category:1982 films]]
[[Category:1982 English-language films]]
[[Category:1982 Spanish-language films]]
[[Category:1982 crime thriller films]]
[[Category:1982 crime drama films]]
[[Category:American crime drama films]]
[[Category:American crime thriller films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ry Cooder]]
[[Category:Films set in California]]
[[Category:Films set in El Paso, Texas]]
[[Category:Films shot in Texas]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films shot in El Paso, Texas]]
[[Category:Films set in Texas]]
[[Category:Films directed by Tony Richardson]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films about illegal immigration to the United States]]
[[Category:RKO Pictures films]]
[[Category:American neo-noir films]]
[[Category:1982 American films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Walon Green]]
[[Category:Films about child abduction in the United States]]
[[Category:English-language crime drama films]]
[[Category:English-language crime thriller films]]