[.BatteryPoison.]

Beyond Borders

Oh the irony of this film - an anorexic woman travels to Ethiopia to feed starving people. This movie, set in the mid 80s, is the epitome of the middle class fad to donate money to third world countries and help make the world a better place by picking up trash and all that hooba jooba back when Phil Collins was preaching this kind of shit. Of course it centers around middle class yuppy narcissism, where the real motivation to help out the world lies in the fact that it helps the main character sleep better at night.

It's mostly a downer film, where you see the awful living conditions of third world nations in the midst of wars or political struggles. The only interesting facet came when the doctor setting up these AID camps is offered funding by the CIA, on the condition that they ship in guns and intellegence information through their crates of food and whatnot. Of course the CIA operative that contacts the doctor has absolutely no problem telling everyone and their brother that he's CIA. Whatever. The implification that he entered Afghanistan and supplied weapons for the Mujahideen, which was not done by the CIA at all... not even in covert operations... showed how much the writer knew about the subject matter. That was all handled by the ISI and required none of our guys to be putting themselves at risk taking them in.

Anyways... that being the one interesting direction this film took, it really kept stumbling over itself so much that it began to read like a fairy-tale. At one point, the CIA operative, while talking with Jolie, continually askes why she's doing what she's doing (seaking this doctor in a dangerous third world country). "Is this .... love?" Like all CIA operatives are cold clockwork killers that don't understand the concept. Get fucking real. The poorly written CIA Op really pissed me off to no end.

So with that part of the story fumbled, all the audience is left with is the shallow love story going on between Jolie and this British doctor. Just like every other movie Jolie has ever done (just about), it turns into a 'Jolie needs dick'* subfigure. At least in this film it's a quick 15 second segment. I still don't see how the first "I have feelings for you" line becomes an instant segway for immediately throwing down and having rough, passionate sex. Ah well, I guess I'm old fashioned.

Ending had an interesting twist, but I wasn't impressed. It's a downer film with a downer ending. If you like this kind of shit, it's right up your alley. Otherwise it makes for a two hour movie of mediocre entertainment.

(Quote borrowed from TStone's description of 'Taking Lives')