Borderline (2002)

Borderline plays around with the grey areas of the human mind that control impulse, empathy and rational thinking, showing (albeit in slightly stunted and blunt B movie form) us a recently released psychiatric patient with Borderline Personality Disorder who becomes obsessed with bis former doctor. Gina Gershon is Lila Coletti, a prison psychiatrist who is very good at her job. Maybe too good. When she sanctions the release of Ed Baikman (Sean Patrick Flanery), she has no idea the heap of trouble she's headed for. Ed is anything but rehabilitated, just a charmer who's great at disguising his instability. Pretty soon people in Lila's life start to get mysteriously injured, and even killed. She is protected by her boyfriend, Detective Macy Kobacek (a slick Michael Biehn), but it may not be enough to put a stop to Ed's crafty, dangerous game. Gershon has always been a strong force, despite being saddled with a lot of... I don't want to use the M word, but let's say, promiscuous roles. She holds her own as a lead female protagonist in a real world context even better, and I wish she'd get more roles like this. Flanery is creepy without resorting to gimmicky grimacing or run of the mill psycho stuff. Biehn is Biehn, he's just a legend in any role. Most of the acting besides those three is pretty patchy, but one can only hope for so much with this kind of low budget fare. Worth it for fans of these actors (they're all favesies of mine), and a not too shabby little thriller.

SPOILER BELOW I won't recap the storyline- many here have already done that. I watched this mostly because I am a Michael Biehn fan & it seems after Aliens and Terminator, he kinda disappeared. So anytime I get a chance to see him, I do.It is a decent suspense flick. The storyline keeps you guessing and, quite frankly, makes it almost impossible to really decide if the good Doctor is guilty or not at the end.The acting over all is okay. No one really stands out, not even my hunny bunny Michael, lol! One of the things I noticed the most developed character is that of the would-be killer. The movie could've been helped by developing the relationship between Gina/Michael (sorry, can't remember their character names) to a level that made you more involved with them both.One reviewer here said that a big flaw in the plot was the rape. How could a female be responsible for that part of the crime? But, if you notice, they mentioned that in the would-be killer's past m.o. (and the husband's girlfriend had the same thing happen to her too) was being raped with a bottle. This is how the writer got around the girl/guy thing.It's not a bad way to spend 90 mins. Would I watch it again? Maybe if there was nothing else on. It does almost have a "TV movie of the week" feel to it. If my review seems lukewarm without the maximum effort, it's because that is how this movie is. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, it's just not that good either.

Basically it pretty average TV thriller, not much more. As a filler between advertising blocks it works. However it much be point or two better if it would be more readable. Some simplification might help here a little.The problem is the last part that uses really extreme number of twists. There is so much twists in the last ten minutes that the movie allows multiple explanations or interpretations. In the end it is not clear if the patient did it or he was pushed to it by the doctor - both alternatives seem to be acceptable.The movie would definitely pass with less dead people and would be more realistic as well.

This picture was filmed in Capetown, South Africa with expert talent and a script far superior to a lot of recent Hollywood thriller crap (like Bullock's MURDER BY NUMBERS, Spacey's DAVID GALE and any of those Ashley Judd potboilers she made with Morgan Freeman, to name a few). This is a nicely contrived murder mystery featuring a strong female lead and some intelligent supporting players; even the obligatory child factor was nicely handled in this particular case. It's an adult murder noir with some smart character interplay. Choice of it's kind.