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Beyond Borders

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Beyond Borders (2003)

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14 %
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Reviews Counted:99

Fresh:14

Rotten:85

Average Rating:4.3/10

Consensus: Beyond Borders is good-intentioned, but the use of human suffering as a backdrop for a romance comes across as sanctimonious and exploitative.

Runtime: 2 hrs 6 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $4,394,454

Synopsis: Director Martin Campbell (GOLDENEYE) balances a romantic tale, serious political commentary, and beautifully shot scenery from exotic locations in BEYOND BORDERS. Oscar winner Angelina Jolie gives... Director Martin Campbell (GOLDENEYE) balances a romantic tale, serious political commentary, and beautifully shot scenery from exotic locations in BEYOND BORDERS. Oscar winner Angelina Jolie gives a moving performance inspired by her real-life U.N. work, and has the perfect romantic foil in Clive Owen. Ostensibly a tale of romance triumphing against the odds, this is in fact a multifaceted story that deals with its various topics in a visually arresting style. BEYOND BORDERS follows the problematic blossoming romance between busy American socialite Sarah Jordan (Jolie), and rogue doctor Nick Callahan (Owen). The two initially meet in 1984 at a charity event in London. Sarah is still flushed with excitement from her recent marriage, but is nevertheless enchanted by Nick's impassioned speech on behalf of starving children in Ethiopia. Sarah decides to help the cause in Africa, meeting Nick there and sparking a romantic connection which is cut short because of family and work commitments. Four years later, Sarah finds herself alone after a torrid divorce. Her work for the United Nations now consumes her thoughts, and when the chance to travel to war-torn Cambodia--and reunite with Nick--arises, it proves too good to turn down. The two immediately hit it off, but Nick's commitment to his work once again causes them to separate. Five more years pass, and when Sarah receives a call that Nick has been captured and made a prisoner of war in Chechnya, she realizes she has one more chance to rescue her man, and to rekindle the passion. [More]

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Clive Owen, Teri Polo, Linus Roache

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Clive Owen, Teri Polo, Linus Roache, Noah Emmerich, Yorick Van Wageningen

Director: Martin Campbell

Director: Martin Campbell
Screenwriter: Caspian Tredwell-Owen
Producer: Dan Halsted, Lloyd Phillips
Composer: James Horner
Studio: Paramount Pictures

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Reviews for Beyond Borders

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
11/01/03
Boston Phoenix
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N/R

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Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/24/03
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
10/24/03
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

This movie doesn't know if it's a socially conscious flick about feeding starving kids or a steamy romantic drama about two pretty people who like to make out in tents.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/23/03
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
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Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
10/24/03
Hollywood.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Never have we been forced to watch so many suffer needlessly for the sake of so few. And that’s what makes this film reprehensible.

Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | comment Comment
10/24/03
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

Hopelessly kooky.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
10/24/03
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Modamag.com | comment Comment
11/07/03
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
Modamag.com

Ambitious and morally complex, yet ultimately shallow. As a result, it falls short of pleasing lovers of serious cinema, while also alienating the happily-ever-after crowd.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
10/24/03
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

The picture holds up starving babies to score cheap emotional points, but it never bothers to look beyond the swollen bellies and swarming flies.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
10/24/03
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News

Beyond Borders is a film with its heart in the right place. Unfortunately, its head is stuck so far in the clouds that it dissolves into preachy do-gooder mush.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/24/03
C.W. Nevius
C.W. Nevius
San Francisco Chronicle

Skip Beyond Borders and write a check to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
10/24/03
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

Despite all the drawbacks, this movie mostly worked for me.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
10/27/03
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Beyond Borders devotes more time to one person's nobility (Angelina Jolie's) than to a world of suffering, and the result is offensive.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
10/24/03
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

A far-fetched romantic adventure.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
10/24/03
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The formula that gave life to such poignant and powerful films as The Killing Fields and The Year of Living Dangerously this time results in something closer to parody.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
10/23/03
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Beyond Borders trivializes the pain and suffering of actual people by reducing them to a backdrop for Hollywood twaddle.

Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
01/01/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

third-world propaganda

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/24/03
David Levine
David Levine
Filmcritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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