NO MAN’S LAND (2021)

January 21, 2021

 Greetings again from the darkness. The title is drawn from what the locals call the gap between the Texas-Mexico border and the fence/wall that must be crossed for those looking to make their way. The film is directed by Conor Allyn and was co-written by his brother Jake Allyn and David Barraza. Jake is also the lead actor.

Bill Greer (Frank Grillo, THE GREY, 2011) and his wife Monica (Andie MacDowell) live on a border ranch with their eldest son Lucas (Alex MacNicoll, ALL ROADS LEAD TO PEARLA, 2019). It’s not an easy life, as the illegal aliens who cross their land sometimes cut the barbed wire fence for access, allowing the Greer’s cattle to escape. Their son Jackson (Jake Allyn) is home from college. He’s a baseball prospect with a trip to New York scheduled to meet with the Yankees (it’s funny how baseball players in the movies so frequently play for the Yankees). While home, Jackson rides his beloved horse Sundance, and helps chase the illegal aliens off the ranch.

One night things go horribly wrong, and Jackson accidentally shoots Fernando, a young boy who is crossing with his father Gustavo (Jorge Jimenez). As viewers, we’ve seen the caring father, referred to as “The Shepherd”, protect his son from the drug dealers and coyotes. Jackson’s dad tries to take the blame for the shooting when interviewed by Texas Ranger Ramirez (George Lopez in a rare dramatic turn for the comedian), but Jackson can’t keep quiet and he bolts across the Rio Grande on Sundance.

As Jackson makes his way deeper into Mexico, he crosses paths with a heavily-tattooed blond coyote named Luis (Andres Delgado) – one who had previously tried to scam Gustavo and Fernando. In fact, Luis shows up more often than a bad penny throughout the story. He’s the one true villain, yet even he thinks he’s doing the right thing (at least sometimes). Jackson is mostly impressed with how nice everyone is, and he ends up working for Victoria (Esmerelda Pimentel) at her father’s horse ranch. It turns out, Jackson is a horse-whisperer, in addition to being a talented baseball pitcher.

Jackson decides he must beg forgiveness from Gustavo, not knowing Fernando’s father is simultaneously tracking him down in a quest for vengeance. Mr. Jimenez gives the film’s finest performance as he flips the switch (quietly, but effectively) from protective and loving father to vengeful man on a mission. The script is filled with clichés and contrivances, with Jackson playing the role of white guilt with an emphasis on cross-cultural empathy. Mexico, and its people, are not like what he expected or had been led to believe. An elevator ride, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and a rendezvous at a funeral are examples of scenes that induce cringes from us as viewers, but nothing too outrageous is included, and we are engaged enough to continue along on Jackson’s trip.

This IFC Film opens January 22, 2021

WATCH THE TRAILER

3 Comments | Drama, Western | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

VALENTINE’S DAY (2010)

February 13, 2010

 (2-12-10) Greetings again from the darkness. Really no need to offer commentary on the story. If you have seen the preview (how could you have missed it?), you know it’s a major chick flick with a long list of Hollywood celebrities who come together and display the trials and tribulations that we have come to celebrate as Valentine’s Day – surely a concoction born of greeting card companies, florists and confectioneries.

For most of the movie, one song kept popping in my head – Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People”. I have never seen so many beautiful people in one film. As you have noticed, the word “actor” has purposefully been avoided – celebrities and beautiful people are a more accurate description of what director Garry Marshall has delivered.

Thankfully, he tossed in Hector Elizonda, Shirley Maclaine and George Lopez or the movie might have done for plastic surgery what Urban Cowboy did for C&W dancing. On top of the beauty, we are subjected to an endless stream of downright SKINNY people! Everyone has noticed Taylor Swift is rail thin, but she doesn’t even stand out here. Jessica Biel, who once had a real-life body, looks cadaverous. Even her character exists on candy and treadmills. Throw in Ashton Kutcher, Topher Grace, Jennifer Garner and Jessica Alba, and one can make the argument that the cost for this cast was offset by the lack of necessity for an on-set lunch buffet.

Look, I realize this is just a chick flick comedy that is designed to poke a bit of fun at our need to love and be loved … or rather just not be alone. But a touch of reality could have helped. Raise your hand if you believe Julia Roberts might be miscast as the soldier returning home on leave from the front lines of war. Or that a brilliant doctor (Patrick Dempsey) might be a little more careful in covering his tracks of indiscretion? Or that Anne Hathaway couldn’t find a slightly more rewarding way to earn a living than her “phone entertainer” job?

Couldn’t help but notice the Pretty Woman connections with Garry Marshall, Julia Roberts, Hector Elizando and Larry Miller. Ms. Roberts even gets in a funny little jab over the closing credits. Some attempt was made to interconnect the multiple story lines and I do appreciate the struggle to show intimacy in the mess of Los Angeles … just too many obvious skits and stereotypes to make this anything more than a half-hearted effort by all involved.  And by “all”, I am including the 10-12 other “stars” that I have not named here.

1 Comment | Rom-Com | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson