Borderline, 2025.
Written and Directed by Jimmy Warden.
Starring Samara Weaving, Ray Nicholson, Jimmie Fails, Eric Dane, Alba Baptista, Catherine Lough Haggquist, Patrick Cox, Terence Kelly, Matthew Del Bel Belluz, and Yasmeen Kelders.
SYNOPSIS:
A bodyguard protects a pop superstar and her athlete boyfriend from a determined stalker in 1990s Los Angeles.
Writer/director Jimmy Warden’s Borderline has a couple of solid subversive 1990s-set home invasion ideas, the first being that while unhinged sociopath Paul Duerson (Ray Nicholson, seemingly determined to mimic his father Jack’s most famous crazed facial expressions and mannerisms in every role he takes lately) is obsessed with breaking into popstar Sofia’s (Samara Weaving) enormous bodyguard-protected (Eric Dane) home and force her into marriage, there is some preamble showcasing that she is a somewhat self-absorbed celebrity who uses others for her amusement. Take her current fictional NBA star boyfriend Rhodes (Jimmie Fails); it seems happy on the surface until he discovers he is one of several names on a list of celebrities for her to date, understand, and dispose of, much like the jigsaw puzzles she enjoys putting together in her free time.
Of course, we still sympathize with her when the loco, unpredictable Paul, has invaded her home alongside a motley crew of other psych ward escapees who have banded together with him for this unsettling cause. Paul sometimes cannot distinguish reality from fantasy, sometimes convincing himself that other individuals, sometimes men, are Sofia. Nevertheless, once they are in the house, the film stops trying to do much with the dynamic that we are rooting for a questionable superstar to be saved. It finds even worse ways to waste the presence of Jimmie Fails.
The other initially intriguing subversive concept is that there is an attempt to flesh out Eric Dane’s personal bodyguard Bell, who has already been severely injured once on the job and is a concerned, worried young daughter Abby (Yasmeen Kelders) voicing her disapproval of her father’s job reasoning that it implies his life is worth less than a wealthy celebrity employing protection. It’s another fascinating subject of debate that the movie largely forgets about.
That’s because Borderline is mostly a tonal disaster playing much of this for crime caper laughs. Paul’s henchmen involve a similarly nutty French woman (Alba Baptista) who is eager to kill and enthusiastic about forcing Sofia into singing a duet in her home studio. Then there is his visually-impaired muscle J H. (Patrick Cox) who regularly becomes perplexed at Paul’s increasingly lunatic behavior, but is also dimwitted and comfortable following orders anyway.
The longer these nutjobs (who have found a way to distract Bell while also putting his family in harm’s way) annoy Sofia, the more it feels like dead air without any suspense or tension. It’s a woefully misguided attempt from Cocaine Bear writer Jimmy Warden to impart that same absurd tone onto this material. However, as Borderline continues, it grows uncomfortable in ways likely unintended, unintentionally inviting and encouraging viewers to laugh at mental illness. Once the dust has settled, the ending tries to pay lip service to some of the dynamics brought up at the beginning while straining to humanize Paul’s fractured state of mind, but by then, it’s insulting.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
