CHARLES BRONSON IN THE SLEEPY CRIME THRILLER 'BORDERLINE'

title: BORDERLINE year: 1980 stars: Charles Bronson rating: *

Before Charles Bronson spent the 1980's working with Cannon Films, usually noted as his worst period, he starred in a few ITC productions that make Cannon seem like MGM, including the neo noir road picture LOVE & BULLETS, the intentional CASABLANCA knockoff CABOBLANCO and, before the limp exploitation THE EVIL THAT MEN DO is his worst latter film and performance in BORDERLINE...

It's actually more of a non-performance of a mild-mannered Border cop investigating the murder of another agent, played by Wilford Brimley in a scene where a young "Introducing" Ed Harris proves himself a cunning villain, only he's hardly in the picture at all, and never really goes head-to-head with Bronson... at least not all that intensely...

Charles Bronson in Borderline with Bruno Kirby and John Ashton

Bronson either trudges from melodramatic immigrant farms following hard-to-see night crimes, or at one point going raggedly undercover with surrogate love interest Karmin Murcelo... 

But no matter what dreary location, our man doesn't connect with anything or anyone here... thank god at least Cannon woke him up for a little while, because kinematic kitsch beats a big screen coma any day. 

Charles Bronson in BORDERLINE

Karmin Murcelo in BORDERLINE

Bert Remsen and Ed Harris in BORDERLINE