An unreal film about a real situation, unavoidably cartoonish, as was the earlier Tears of the Sun, in its attempt to join crucial issues to ridiculous melodrama.
Comment
10/23/03
Beyond Borders (2003)
14
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
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... [More]
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Clive Owen, Teri Polo, Linus Roache
Director: Martin Campbell
Reviews for Beyond Borders
Top CriticThis 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.
10/23/03
Top CriticA listless affair.
10/23/03
'Beyond Borders' is one of those movies that takes an enormous tragedy and essentially reduces it to the level of a soap opera so that it can have a couple of big stars standing front-and-center swapping spit.
10/23/03
I should have walked out of my screening, gone to a laundromat and watched towels spin around in a dryer, because that would have been more compelling.
10/23/03
Beyond Borders is aptly titled. It should be placed way beyond the border, where it can't be seen.
10/23/03
A romantic thriller in a quasi documentary setting where desert tents and ramshackle buildings are as spotlessly dust-free as London townhouses.
10/23/03
Potent stuff for part of the way, then it nose-dives into a sublime kind of awfulness.
10/23/03
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.
10/23/03
It's easy to get caught up in the whole, soap-opera thrust of the thing.
10/23/03
A powerful, deeply moving film that takes you on a stirring journey straight to your heart.
10/23/03
A self-indulgent, unintentionally farcical romance.
10/23/03
[Campbell] can't overcome the basic tension of trying to elicit honest, conscience-tweaking audience reactions in the context of a broadly entertaining movie.
10/23/03
Good intentions can't overcome a disjointed story.
10/23/03
...runs on guilt. It's the fuel that drives the movie's engine.
10/23/03
What starts out with an interesting premise quickly deteriorates into a cockeyed political statement.
10/22/03
It's proof that the Zhivago / Reds / English Patient school of 'world cataclysm as amorous backdrop' may no longer be viable, at least as applied to contemporary crises.
10/22/03
Women who like epic romances may flinch at the number of times infants are thrown in harm’s way herein, and men who like action movies may find more crying than they’re comfortable with.
10/22/03
Why save the world when Angelina Jolie can do it for you and get laid at the same time?
10/21/03
Falls short as both entertainment and enlightenment.
10/21/03
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