Themes: Immigrant Life, Witnessing a Crime, Woman In Jeopardy
Main Cast: Brad Johnson, Sigal Erez, Marshall Teague, Brian Bloom
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 97 minutes
Plot
Educated and with a promising career, Miranda (Sigal Erez) finds her life in Mexico shattered by corrupt officials, causing her to take flight across the Rio Grande into Texas with other illegal immigrants. With no possessions or money, Miranda finds herself in the desert separated from her protective brothers. The opportunity arises to hide in the Winnebago of a pair of American tourists, but the tourists are witness to a horrific crime: A drug deal has gone wrong and a half-dozen mobsters are slaughtered by corrupt U.S. Border Guard patrolmen. With a policy of not permitting any witnesses to escape, the renegade patrolmen then kill the tourists at point blank and with the hidden Miranda as a witness. Eventually Miranda finds a job as a waitress in a diner where she befriends the local sheriff, Grant (Brad Johnson); when Grant learns what Miranda has seen, he becomes his key witness' protector -- and, eventually, her lover -- as the ruthless patrolmen close in for the kill. What Grant doesn't know is that the leader of the murderous cops is closer to him than he thinks. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Review
One imagines that lead actress Sigal Erez wrote Across the Line's screenplay as a showcase for her talent. After all, how many challenging roles are there for Hispanic women in American cinema? As it happens, both of her skills -- acting and writing -- are on impressive display in this little-seen, modern-day Western. Beginning with the believable decision to smuggle herself into the States -- a family-ripping dramatic climax many films would have been happy to end with -- to the very clever twist near the end as the main villain is exposed, Across the Line belies its indie origins and overcomes genre shortcomings with ample amounts of authenticity; Erez never compromises the integrity of her character in telling a story that could have been -- very, very easily -- just another B-movie shoot-'em-up. Brad Johnson's square jaw and sincere cowboy persona work well with Erez's hesitant immigrant, who is understandably nervous at every turn until she finds someone she can trust. The pace of the middle third is clumsy, significantly enough that it could lose viewers expecting something more predictable, but for a first effort, Across the Line comes across very well. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
