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By
WAYNE KLEIN
A moving tapestry of action,
drama and romance, "Beyond Borders" stitches
together all three genres in a compelling glimpse
at the poverty that starves the people of third
world nations like Ethiopia. Angelina Jolie plays
Sarah Jordan a newly married American expatriate
living in London with her English husband. While
attending a dinner to celebrate the
accomplishments of her father-in-law at helping
the less fortunate of the world, Sarah meets the
dynamic Dr. Nick Callahan (Clive Owen). Nick
disrupts the dinner breaking in with a boy he has
brought from Ethiopia named Jo Jo. Nick is upset
that funds have been cut off to the camp where he
is trying to provide for the poverty stricken in
that country. When both he and Jo Jo are arrested,
they are separated. The boy ends up dying on the
streets of London after escaping the police half a
world away from a much more savage world where he
managed to scrape by and survive.
This horrible incident sparks Sarah to volunteer
for the relief movement in Ethiopia. Here she
meets the mysterious Nick Callahan again providing
support at the camp he has set up. Facing the
hardship of dwindling funds, involvement by the
CIA and the break up of the camp, Sarah identifies
with the unfortunates she helps. Gradually, she
falls in love with the enigmatic Nick Callahan.
While it's far from perfect, "Beyond Borders"
manages to transcend its limitations due to the
well crafted story and direction. The fact that
this entertaining feature also has a conscience
and looks outside the borders of our well-to-do
society, marks the film as unique. Considering the
amount of crap and overheated comic book
adaptations Hollywood has embraced, "Beyond
Borders" social conscience and well crafted but
predictable story makes it worthwhile. The best
moments of "Beyond Borders" reminds me of Peter
Weir's marvelous "The Year of Living Dangerously"
although this film focuses much more on the
romance than the political intrigue of that great
movie. Campbell seems indecisive as to what type
of film he's making; "Beyond Borders" tries to be
a number of different things all at once. It's
most successful when Campbell and writer Caspian
Tredwell-Owen focus on the budding romance and
idealism of Sarah and Nick. Much of the social
commentary and political commentary fall flat but
I admire the film for at least attempting to do
both within such a mainstream movie.
Both Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen give moving
performances as the leads of the film. Jolie's
Oscar wasn't an accident. She's a talented,
vibrant actress who clearly relishes the challenge
of her role. Owen subbing for Kevin Costner makes
the role his own. While I certainly could have
imagined Costner playing Nick, he would have been
miscast in the role. Director Martin Campbell's
nicely composed visuals and sharp direction
provide a marked contrast to what the other
directors might have brought to the film. (ham
fisted but talented director Oliver Stone withdrew
shortly before production). Campbell's direction
compliments writer Caspian Tredwell-Owen's uneven
but thought provoking script.
The beautiful images of London come to life and
are in sharp contrast to the dire landscape of
Ethiopia. The landscape of the camp comes to life
in all its gritty, realistic detail. The sound
engulfs you in the poverty stricken world that
Sarah has adopted. The 5.1 mix works well
capturing the detail of the original soundtrack.
Four featurettes highlight this fine movie. The
first two focus on the making of the film. "The
Making of Beyond Borders Parts 1 & 2" run about 40
minutes in length combined and provide an
interesting glimpse into the harsh conditions
under which this fine film was made. One can
easily understand why Jolie tackled the role in
this film based on the featurette "Angelina:
Goodwill Ambassador" which focuses on her
humanitarian efforts and involvement in the relief
agency. It provides a nice contrast to Jolie's
identity as movie star and provides a refreshingly
glimpse into something other than the tinsel town
existence of most movie stars. It also functions
as a pleasant fundraising short.
The featurette on writer Caspian Tredwell-Owen
brings the project into even sharper focus.
Tredwell-Owen recounts many of the stories he was
told by the relief workers he interviewed as part
of the research for his well thought out script.
It's clear that the script became a labor of love
for him as it provided an opportunity to craft an
entertaining movie with a message near and dear to
his heart. Director Martin Campbell and producer
Lloyd Philips provide a fascinating blow-by-blow
account of the difficulties they faced making this
movie. Both relate a number of interesting stories
about the hardship of shooting in foreign
countries and achieving the realism required by
the film's subject matter. There's also compelling
tidbits about the production and shooting of the
film including a discussion of how various
sequences were shot.
Although "Beyond Borders" suffers from its
ambitious storytelling design, the moving subject
matter and portrayal of a world unknown to most of
the west makes up for some of the awkwardness of
the storytelling. Director Campbell has fashioned
a touching, original romantic drama that manages
to convincingly fuse social commentary. Although
the commentary is oversimplified and half baked,
it provides this entertainment with more teeth
than most of the escapist fare out there. Campbell
and Tredwell-Owen are to be commended for their
letting their conscience guide this unique film.
Although the conclusion seems contrived and
overwrought, the film manages to be at turns
entertaining and thought provoking and really one
can't ask for more from a film industry mired in
the simplistic world of comic book conflicts and
overworked horror film themes. |
