 | |
List Price: $14.98 | | Label: VELOCITY / THINKFILM
Salesrank: 31715
Released: January 29, 2008 |
| Our Price: $6.00 |
| Used Price: $0.95 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
A powerful story of life on the border between the United States and Mexico, Bordertown is based on the hundreds of women working in American-owned factories who have been brutally raped and murdered in Juarez, a city gripped by fear. The attacks have been covered up by the local authorities, and still continue today.
When editor of the Chicago Sentinel George Morgan (Sheen) sends ambitious reporter, Lauren Adrian (Lopez), to Juarez, Mexico to investigate the murders, what she finds is the story of a lifetime. Eva, a young woman who was raped and left for dead in the desert, is the only woman to survive an attack. Unable to go to the police for help, she turns to a local newspaper run by Diaz Alfonso (Banderas), former friend and colleague of Lauren s. Hiding Eva is incredibly dangerous, but Lauren knows that publishing her story is the only way to expose the truth behind the murders. She is determined to find Eva s attackers but soon finds herself immersed in a dangerous web of corruption that extends to both sides of the border.
Bordertown Reviews:
Where have I been 
2009-06-01 - I have seen almost all of Jennifer Lopez' movies and I came across this one, which I hadnt even heard of. This movie is amazing. It's based on a true story about the factory women in Juarez, Mexico who have been found murdered or still missing and noone was doing anything about it. Jennifer Lopez plays a journalist who is determined to find the truth about whats going on, along with another journalist played by Antonio Banderas. Since I knew nothing about this story before hand, I was uterly thrilled to see the outcome, hoping that they found the killers and things would get better but it was much more than that. What an amazing portral of what goes on in Mexico. May those women rest in peace. If you havent seen this movie, do so.
Injustices untold, blame misplaced 
2009-01-28 - Anyone who has been to the border between the U.S. and Mexico knows there are some seriously shady happenings. Where cheap labor can be combined with higher-priced imports into the U.S., there are bound to be conditions considered unhealthy. Many of these places are called "donkey shows", but that has nothing to do with this movie. Others more dangerous are "maquiladoras", factories where mostly women are employed, because they complain less about the long hours. It turns out that many of these women have been heinously raped and murdered; some approximations are in the hundreds of thousands.
In this particular reenactment, one young, attractive women leaves work like normal. Instead of staying with the rest of the employees, however, she wanders downtown by herself to shop. Soon thereafter she is attacked by an employee of the public transportation system. Enter Lauren (Jennifer Lopez), a Chicago Sentinel reporter who is sent to uncover the truth behind the crimes.
Lauren flies down to Juarez - her massive backside counted as a carry-on - and meets up with former lover/friend Alfonzo Diaz (Banderas), who now owns a small, yet controversial newspaper. Previously the two worked together in El Paso on some rag that undoubtedly ran countless articles about zombies mistaken for Marc Anthony. Together they help the one surviving victim fight through the crimes and pervasive political cover-up exploding within Mexico's borders.
There are a few problems with the movie's message, however: I don't see where maquiladoras are to blame. It seems that the scorn is misdirected, and the aim should be towards corrupt politicians and police officers who all but encourage the lawless behavior to persist. Perhaps some of the blame could be spread around when considering working conditions, but the brutal rapes and murders should not be on the maquiladoras' collective conscious. Are they supposed to provide security for each employee throughout their diverse journeys home? Why not armored cars, personal bodyguards, and ADT home security systems while we're at it? It seems middle man is taking the brunt of the blame when there are obviously larger players (i.e. foreign governments) deserving ridicule and disparagement.
One other personal pet peeve of mine reared its ugly head in this movie. I don't see why Hollywood screenwriters insist on casting non-smoking stars in smoking roles. In this movie, J-Lo "smokes", which is simply her holding a cigarette once or twice and letting it smolder. The addition provides no substance, no depth, no extra angst, and the miscast only makes the movie's underlying message that much more irritatingly ridiculous when one considers that cigarettes kill infinitely more per year than those scaaaaaary maquiladoras.
This topic of this movie is powerful and has limitless potential. By all accounts, this should be a widely discussed epidemic. The movie is not fully effective, however, because politics and a certain someone's ego got in the way.
The yellow devil of Juarez
2008-12-13 - The exploitation of Mexicans in in the bordertown of Juarez
doesn't end with long hours,poor working conditions and low pay.
The investigation of wide scale rape and murder of women
is a story that involves the lead actress in a nightmare
that robs her of more than just her best friend.
That this movie got made during the Bush years is somewhat amazing.
I hope it circulated well in Washington D.C.
There is nothing worse than murder on this scale,
except maybe covering it up?
MIND BLOWING SERIAL KILLER TRUE STORY
2008-09-07 - TYPICAL COVER UP BY A FOREIGN CORRUPT POLICE FORCE,POLITICALLY DOMINATED
CORRUPT OFFICIALS. WELL DONE MARTIN SHEEN, ANTONIO BANDERAS AND JENIFER LOPEZ IN PROFESSIONALLY BRINGING TO THE ATTENTION OF THE WORLD MEDIA OF A SERIAL MURDER CONSPIRACY BASED ON ACTUAL TRUE FINDINGS. SHAME ON A ROMAN CATHOLIC COUNTY FOR NOT BEING BEHIND AN INVESTIGATION TO BRING THE OFFENDER/S TO JUSTICE AND SHAME ON THE MAKERS OF THIS FLM DELAYING INTERNATIONAL RELEASE ONTO DVD.
Sloppy, agenda driven movie 
2008-08-25 - It could have been an interesting movie...set in lawless Juarez, with its outrageous drug violence and corrupt police all as a backdrop to the true story of the unsolved murders of hundreds of young women. But the folks who made the movie are more concerned with telling us how corporations are bad than actually weaving a plausible narrative into fact.
It appears the only true link between the murders and corporations is the fact that some women were killed/disappeared during their commute. (How many...the majority? the vast majority? 10, 200?) And that is evidence of a massive conspiracy leading us to blame NAFTA and corporate greed for serial murder?
Hey, it's the movies.
