Bordertown

Plot synopsis:
The opening titles explain that American corporations are using the North American Free Trade Agreement by opening large maquiladoras right across the United States–Mexico border. The maquiladoras hire mostly Mexican women to work long hours for little money in order to produce mass quantity products.
Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez), an impassioned American news reporter for the "Chicago Sentinel" wants to be assigned to the Iraq front-lines to cover the war. Instead, her editor George Morgan (Martin Sheen) assigns her to investigate a series of slayings involving young maquiladora factory women in a Mexican bordertown.
Worker Eva (Maya Zapata), originally from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, takes a bus to go back to her shanty-town home after work. After a while she is the last passenger still in the bus. The driver asks her if she minds if he goes to a gas station to fill up, and Eva agrees. However, he takes her to a remote place and assaults and rapes her, together with another man, who then tries to strangle her. The two men, believing she's dead, bury her alive. With the little energy she has left, Eva escapes.
Adrian heads to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on the U.S.–Mexico border to investigate the murders, hoping that if she does well she will be promoted by Morgan to be a foreign correspondent. In Juárez, Adrian meets up with Diaz (Antonio Banderas), whom she had been working with six years before, and who is now the editor for the local newspaper "El Sol de Juárez". She also meets Eva.
The three try to find the two killers and have them prosecuted. For this purpose she starts working in the factory, in order to act as bait on the bus ride. The driver tries to assault her in the same way he did Eva, and although police assistance has been arranged, they are at the wrong place. She manages to escape her attacker. Later Diaz gets shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. Eva changes her mind and does not want to testify any more for fear of revenge, and tries to flee to the U.S., together with others in the trunk of a car. She gets caught and is sent back. Adrian convinces her to testify after all. For political reasons the Chicago Sentinel refuses to publish Adrian's story. Adrian quits and becomes the editor for El Sol de Juárez.

Tags: revenge, murder, violence, flashback

Review:
Perhaps "Bordertown" won't get 10 Oscar nominations or whatever, but I enjoyed watching Jennifer Lopez unravel the mystery of what happened to Eva, the young girl attacked, left for dead, and miraculously survived.
They're arguing about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the villain in this film about the injustices of NAFTA border factories toward their women workers, and in particular about the border town of Juarez, on the Rio Grande, across from El Paso, Texas.The script's characters and plot are fictional.
Dedicated reporters and honest police in this town have been killed in numbers scraping to reveal the truth, and still the vacuum of female death continues.For credibility, Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Lopez have had so so ratings, but have had hits as well as misses, but have not been known to be lacking in integrity.
So based on that ludicrousy, I vote "10" until the investigation resolves the nearly 20% of early volume of "1" votes.It is important that honest and committed film viewers and consciences, vote to give this movie, issue, and the IMDb a dignified rating so that the curious uninformed will be properly attracted to an awareness of this better than average film, that portrays this horrific reality..
They are good but....This movie is not for an award but I recommend you to watch it, because it's a true story and it shows hard living, bad politics, corruption, trying to stay alive and you are on your own.......(sorry on my bad English).
This film, written and directed by Gregory Nava ('Mi Familia', 'El Norte', 'Selena', etc), approaches a public service campaign on the part of Nava and the rest of his cast and crew - especially producer/star Jennifer Lopez.
After the stunning effect of the film, the viewer is encouraged to watch the several excellent featurettes on the DVD - and then try to remain uninvolved.Chicago Sentinel editor George Morgan (Martin Sheen) convinces the reluctant reporter Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez) to fly to Juarez, Mexico to cover a combustible story about the ongoing rapes and murders of women who work the factories along the border for little pay.
When the beautiful blond Lauren arrives in Juarez she is shocked by the reality: a very young factory worker girl Eva (the fine young actress Maya Zapata) has managed to survive a rape and attempted murder, literally climbing out of her grave and escaping.
With the aid of anxious newspaper owner Alfonso Diaz (Antonio Banderas) the three begin the dangerous struggle to unveil the truths about the cover-up of the deaths: the police and government corruption in Mexico are matched by similar deeds in the USA in order to protect the NAFTA arrangement which apparently holds the profit of the mega-factories of more importance then the mere lives of thousands of Mexican women.
This is a movie that is not a memorable example of cinematography (the plot is very Hollywood-ish, especially for a movie based on a real story), but the acting is quite good and it does give the viewer a fair idea of what is going on in the far away places (at times not so far after all) where our everyday gizmos are actually built in these days.
The story is based on a horrifying and tragic reality of raping and killing of women on the Mexican border, of which I did not know anything, as underreported throughout the world.
The movie has so the laudable merit of bringing to light and denouncing the terrifying drama of thousands of women being raped and disappeared in those waste lands, working in those appalling "maquilladoras", where even the most basic human rights are completely disregarded, and where deep economic interests prevail over respect for human dignity.
However, as the story progressed, I realized it was more an action-thriller than a documentary picture, standing out for gripping though improbable, twists, a tense and quick pace, intertwined with some more relaxed and relaxing moments, which appear as really improbable and above all of bad taste and out of place if we consider the grave topic of the movie.
Not much has been said about the effects of NAFTA and the bordertowns like Juarez that have sprung up and swallowed communities whole and this movie is at least a step in the right direction for rectifying this and telling at least a fragment of an important tale.
This is a dramatic and serious movie where the starring- well performed by Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas- encounter in the midst of deep struggle oppressive forces outside their control, as they confront against nasty killers and corrupt people.
But to laugh and give a negative review to a movie that tells an important story, whether or not it stars Jennifer Lopez, is awful and shows that there are people who are regulars on this board who are not just stupid.
They're complete morons.This is based on a true story about murders of young women that have been taking place in Juarez, Mexico for years, with a large number of women have been raped and murdered or simply disappeared.
The women are normally attacked as they are going home.Jennifer Lopez plays a reporter who is assigned this story against her will but becomes involved in it, protecting a young woman who dug herself out of her own grave, and going undercover in a maquiladora herself to uncover one of the murderers.This horrible situation is not dealt with efficiently by the government or the police.
This was an issue director Gregory Nava wanted to explore, and Jennifer Lopez, Martin Sheen, and Antonio Banderas signed on.
The main actors are therefore Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas to make it believable but the movie gets really hard to bear at times.
Many people have come to the border area to work in the factories but their wages are generally higher than the areas they came from and lest anyone think Mexico was crime free prior to NAFTA should watch "Los Olvidados" a film about violent youths in Mexico City in 1950.
Also, the notion newspapers were somehow unconcerned with the "bottom line" in the past is also a reach.I will say the film tries to depict the gritty life that exists on the US Mexican border and certainly the murders are gruesome and the police have been ineffective at best in solving the crimes.
Jennifer Lopez performance is commendable as well as other supportive roles (Antonio Banderas, Martin Sheen); it's about a story that needs to be told, a disturbing tale - due to the subject handled - that could have been more compelling if it were less clichéd.
I love Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas, having the two together in the same movie looked like it had to be good.
As I watched, I didn't really get into the film like some of the other movies with Jennifer Lopez or Antonio Banderas but the story was interesting.
After watching the movie I found myself reading about the murdered women of Juarez.I will probably watch it again on DVD and recommend others as well, not because it is the most entertaining film, but because the story of the murdered women of Juarez..
This movie is about Mexico and some good people (Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas) trying to find people involved in killing many woman workers from factories near border with USA.
This movie is like life not so easy to watch, but good for thinking about....
I suspect that both Jennifer Lopez and Antonio signed onto the project because of the credentials of established Latin filmmaker Gregory Nava, who has a keen eye for capturing the look and feel of a place, in this case, Ciudad Juarez.
Nava's most recent film has as target some of the same problems of his eternal film, the exploitation suffered by many hard working women in the world who are just finding a way to live a decent life, making their money, living under the worst possible conditions that the third world has to offer and deal with rapists, killers, exploiters of any kind.
In his latest picture, Nava presents Jennifer Lopez playing an reporter whose mission is to investigate the countless murders of many women in a Mexican town, at first those cases could be viewed as the act of an psychotic with an certain modus operandi.
This movie is based on the true story of murders and rape of several factory workers who are women.
I thought Jennifer Lopez actually did a good job in this movie(I know a lot of people don't take her seriously, but she really did a god job in this movie).
As the newspaper editor, George Morgan, his delivery of lines in a particular scene (summing up these aforementioned trends,) is comparable with that elegant rendering of Sir Richard Burton when that late great stands before the bar to indict a system showing neither fairness or justice to his client in the Medusa Touch.Jennifer Lopez as Lauren Adrian, an investigative reporter sent into a story neither her editor or her can imagine in scope, IS the part.
Jennifer Lopez plays a journalist who's send to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico to investigate Women murders..
I must admit I had my doubts at first since I have never considered Jennifer Lopez a good actress however but her performance was terrific she delivers her best performance in this movie that tells the true story of how thousands of Mexican women are killed in Juarez, I must say critics are not always right when it comes to classify a movie good or bad, most of the times they would praise movies because of their A-list well known directors and actors which is obviously not the case on this movie since Lopez and Bandera's are the only well known actors in this movie and none of them are considered to be A-list actors or Oscar's nominees I was terrified to see how bad things are in Juarez I could not believe such a terrible thing could happen in a city that shall be considered to be a civilized society but this movie really help us all understand how women rights are violated in certain places in the world.
These victims are mostly young attractive women in their early 20's and their already facing the consequences of poverty and the government's conspiracy with women assaulter's.I personally feel Lopez performance stole many peoples heart because it felt so real how she connected herself with the story, she delivers a excellent performance in this movie.
If you're not planning to put your critical hat on before you watch this movie I would highly recommend it because I am sure that you will learn things and you would get the message which is don't be part of what you know its killing thousands of innocent women who are trying to make a living.
She is forced by her boss (Martin Sheen) to go to Juarez to do a story about a series of mysterious murders of young factory women who are attracted to the new jobs at the maquiladoras.
Diaz is taken in by the police leaving Eva and Lauren alone together.Writer/director Gregory Nava got a couple of A-list stars to do small roles in this but it's Lopez that's asked to carry this thing on her shoulders.
Jennifer Lopez stars as a fictional Chicago newspaper reporter turned on to story regarding the women of Juarez, Mexico, and the deplorable conditions they're forced to live under in order to care for their families.
I turned this movie on because Lopez was in it, but I stuck around for the story line, one that could make your heart sink, just thinking that someone who lives right around the corner in middle America could have a hand in covering something like this up.
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Based around the true story of a series (or reportedly over a thousand!) cases of rape and murder of women in the Mexican town of Juarez, this has Jennifer Lopez as Lauren Adrian, an ambitious reporter who is sent to the town to investigate the crimes in exchange for getting a Foreign Correspondents job from her boss (Martin Sheen.) Once there, she runs into an old flame (Antonio Banderas) and learns the police are prohibiting any media discussion on the cases.
The reason for the hush up of it's existence, it would appear, is so the US maintains good relations with the government of Mexico, and avoids pointing the finger at it and crying 'corruption.' That's the theory anyway, but if events have played out like they have in Bordertown there's little to prove the film wrong.One thing this impressive but grim film must be noted for is Lopez's performance in the lead role.
Bordertown is a very interesting movie which is sadly based on real events.This movie has very good intentions and its main porpoise is to make conscience to the spectators about some atrocities which happened in the real life.I truly admired the intention of this movie.The performances are surprisingly good.Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas are not usually good actors but they could bring honest and natural performances.Director Gregory Nava created a good atmosphere in this movie and he found the correct style for telling the story.A fail I found on this movie are some scenes which are a little bit boring.I think they could have easily been edited.Bordertown is not an excellent movie but it's a very interesting one and I can recommend it..
That is 'Bordertown'.At the Berlin film festival - where 'Bordertown' premiered - director Greg Nava (who also wrote the script), co-producer Barbara Martinez and Jennifer Lopez (who also produced) left no doubt how important the movie is to them.
At the Berlin film festival writer/producer/director Gregory Nava and his star Jennifer Lopez, as well as producer Barbara Martinez, were convincing in their mission to fashion a movie, loosely based on the facts of continued and brutal rapes with the killing and/or disappearance of many young woman victims that came to Juarez.
Besides an above-average amount of "goofs," the emphasis is made on imprecisely-executed chase-and-run scenes, while the development of characters is almost entirely absent due to a rather phlegmatic script.For instance, we find out about the background of the main character, the journalist Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez) during black-and-white flashbacks that can not possible make sense to the most avid moviegoer, until she actually dialogs its meaning during a scene towards the end of the movie.
Is that another sign that the movie wants to built on the sure-fire success of sensationalism, while it can not offer the real goods of a well-developed story with two- and three-dimensional characters, who want a better world, while materialistic psycho- and sociopaths seem to have the upper hand in killing teenage women, who come to work in the free-trade-created factories for about 5 bucks a day.
Produced and starring Jennifer Lopez, BORDERTOWN is a compelling story that happens in Juarez, Mexico amid the NAFTRA controversy.
The editor of the Chicago Sentinel George Morgan(Martin Sheen)sends an ambitious reporter, Lauren Adrian(Lopez)to investigate the murders and she ends up with the story of her lifetime.
A young woman(Maya Zapata)actually survives an attack and Adrian decides to go undercover with the help of a journalist friend(Antonio Banderas)to expose the truth about the out of controlled murders in Juarez.
This movie was meant to show real life situations that are happening right now at the border towns between united states and Mexico.
Jennifer Lopez plays Lauren Adrian, a reporter for the Chicago Sentinel who wants to be a big time news reporter but has to go to Mexico and report what is going on with the murders of these women in the factories.
Lopez does a great job in this movie along with Antonio Banderas.
As a massive JLO fan I was keen to watch this movie regardless of the subject, I would watch anything with my beloved Jennifer in.This film was shocking and is yet another classic example of the appalling world we live in as regards money being seemingly more important than human lives and human suffering.It sickened me to see innocent women treated in such a way just so big business and fat cats can get their hands on yet more cash while people suffer as a consequence.
(True enough, though not often noted in the American press.) The editor of a Chicago newspaper (Martin Sheen) sends an ambitious reporter (Jennifer Lopez) to Juarez to investigate the events and report back to him.
So Lopez and Banderas run into obstacles all along the way, even when they take under their wing a young woman who has almost miraculously survived an attack.The movie suggests that the real culprits here are the American-funded factories that were built in the border towns after the passage of NAFTA.
The strangeness of the attempt to kill Lopez and Banderas (looks like something had been added after the movie was done!).
The Bad: Nava included flashback of Lauren (Jennifer Lopez character) when she was young all along the movie and they are useless, the fact that she talk about it with George (Martin sheen) at the end would have been enough, it kind of distract the intention from the real story of the movie.
Jennifer Lopez believe it or not is amazing here, probably one of her best work in many years, she particularly impressed me in her last scene with Martin Sheen, her all speech was touching and well acted.
"Lauren Adrian" (Jennifer Lopez) is a newspaper reporter who goes to Juarez, Mexico to investigate the murders of hundreds of female factory employees.
You needed someone who was extremely tough and could convey grit in this film dealing with Mexican women being murdered after a day's work at an American owned factory in Juarez, Mexico.There are some inconsistencies in this film as well.