Bordertown poster & wallpaper

Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Lopez, John Norman

A journalist (Lopez) investigates a series of murders near American-owned factories on the border of Juarez and El Paso.

Flixster Users

65% liked it

16,481 ratings

R, 1 hr. 55 min.

Directed by: Gregory Nava

Release Date: January 29, 2008

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: January 29, 2008

Get It:

Stats: 836 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

jlo dancing Bordertown Bordertown
Upload a Photo |

View All Bordertown Photos (3)

Your Rating


clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (836)

  • wellmeetagain
    November 17, 2008
    wellmeetagain
    "Based on Actual Events" story concerning the plight of Mexican factory workers and the journalist who tries to write an expose about it. Gritty and surprisingly realistic. Recommended.
  • hoganshero
    September 5, 2008
    hoganshero
    This is definately a social good film. Everyone should watch it to learn about what happens in and around Juarez. Very good performances, and startling imagery.
  • StaisilD
    March 4, 2008
    StaisilD
    BORDERTOWN is more than a suspenseful film about a tragic reality that has been terrifying Juarez, Mexico for years. Chicago Sentinel editor George Morgan (Martin Sheen) convinces the reluctant reporter Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez) to fly to Juarez, Mexico to cover a combustibl...( read more)e story about the ongoing rapes and murders of women who work the factories along the border for little pay. Lauren would prefer becoming a foreign correspondent and extracts a promise that if she takes on this ugly assignment ('I don't speak Spanish and I don't know anything about Mexico'), Morgan will grant that request. 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. Lauren and Eva bond and Lauren realizes that her story about the 5000 victims of this heinous serial killing may just rest with the information Eva holds: she can identify her assailants. 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. How the trio infiltrates the corruption (and the buried secret realities of Lauren's humble beginnings) provide the remainder of the film.
  • armybratgeo
    February 10, 2008
    armybratgeo
    This was really powerful. I've seen the area where this movie was based. It's very sad...but I'm not sure this movie is gonna raise enough awareness about the problems in Juarez. I truly hope it does...right now US Military personal is not even allowed to go to Juarez...what does...( read more) that tell you? Lopez was soso but Banderas was great.
  • habitualdamnation
    July 19, 2007
    habitualdamnation
    Who can convince me this isn't sensationalist schlock. I don't think J.Lo can be taken seriously in any movie, can you? Maybe that Serena biopic. Anyway, this tried to be too many things at the same time. I tried and failed to care.
  • memo147
    November 18, 2009
    memo147
    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
  • befreealways
    October 7, 2009
    befreealways
    Was really interesting story
  • ElCochran90
    September 15, 2009
    ElCochran90
    A good story wasted and poorly executed.

    36/100
  • ristrawn
    September 3, 2009
    ristrawn
    great about the hardships faced by women in poor areas of the world, even tragedies... a fave Antonio Banderas & Jennifer Lopez were fantastic...
  • Hellshocked
    August 26, 2009
    Hellshocked
    Across the border from its peaceful and prosperous twin city of El Paso, Ciudad Juarez not only has the highest murder rate in Mexico but it has also been ground zero for up to 5,000 femicides over the last ten years. With local authorities refusing to investigate and covering up...( read more) the murders as best as they can it has become an international symbol for the struggle for women's rights. Is there a good film to be made here? I am not sure if there is. There are easily dozens of terrible ones, however, and this is no exception.

    This film is so incompetent and so confused as to what it wants to be that it very quickly becomes nigh unwatchable. Rather than the story of Juarez this is a movie about Jennifer Lopez's reporter, her troubles and how she heroically puts everything on the line to do the job local law enforcement is unwilling to do. Yes, ladies and gentlemen: the reason women have been and continue to be killed in Juarez is because J-Lo has not taken it upon herself to put a stop to it. You know, kind of like how you only live because Chuck Norris allows you to. Beyond that the film is littered with throwaway roles that only exist so celebrities such as Martin Sheen, Antonio Banderas and Juanes can go on record as having put theirnames behind the cause of bringing awareness to the plight of the women of Juarez. There are ridiculous action sequences, ridiculous suspense sequences, a ridiculous villain and an even more ridiculous conclusion. The movie's performances are bad, its screenplay shoddy and its direction uniformly terrible. This is an insult to the thousands of mothers, sisters and daughters who have lost their lives for the simple fact that they are women.

    And yet...there are small details, ideas that the film raises sometimes by accident that hint as to the film that could have been. The Juarez presented is a den of degradation, a city constructed from the bottom up by the exploitation of women in order to facilitate the exploitation of women. Strip clubs litter the streets, prostitutes expose themselves to danger on every corner, factory workers risk their lives every day for pittance and all for the sake of an economy that is predicated on equal parts tourism (much of it of the sexual variety) and outsourced factories from the north. The film also argues, at one point, that in this day and age nationalities and geographical boundries are a thing of the past as international conflict and domestic issues do not concern the wealthy as they are a country unto themselves regardless of their origin. Needless to say the film neither explores these things nor even bothers bringing them up again. It does, however, imply that the production team must have had a very good advisor at some point even if they almost completely ignored his or her input.

    Label this one under garbage with dellusions of grandeur simply because it is (kinda sorta but not really) is about a social issue. Garbage is garbage all around, ladies and gentlemen, and this is garbage.

View All Bordertown Reviews

Critic Reviews

No recent reviews.

Comments

  • olufemij
    February 14, 2008
    olufemij
    rate this movie
  • essined27
    March 20, 2007
    essined27
    Hi boy, pasando a saludar.. Have a nice day!!
  • Donegal
    February 12, 2007
    Donegal
    I have heard about these murders, so I'm interested to see this movie (even though I really dislike Jennifer Lopez).
Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Official Trailer

View Larger Bordertown Trailer

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Erin Brockovich
    Erin Brockovich (88%)
  • Bajo Juarez: The City Devouring Its Daughters
    Bajo Juarez: The City Devouring Its Daughters (67%)
  • Backyard (El traspatio)
    Backyard (El traspatio) (100%)
  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
    Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal ... (43%)

More Movies like Bordertown

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Bordertown : Watch Free on TV

Bordertown Trivia

  • NAME OF THE NEW MOVIE OF JENNIFER LOPEZ WHERE JUANES SINGS  Answer »
  • In which movie did Jennifer Lopez take on a role as an investigative reporter who wants to shed light on the rape and murder of thousands of young Mexican factory workers?  Answer »
  • 'Bordertown' is a Jennifer Lopez movie.  Answer »
  • Martin Sheen was in the film 'Bordertown' (2006).  Answer »
More Bordertown Trivia

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Bordertown to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

maisam Skin by maisam
15 Profiles
Add to Profile

More Skins