The Line

Right, this film is nicely shot, good characters has big names etc etc as everyone else has said, but..... It has no plot... The plot is that the boss gets ill (but he isn't), so he hands his business to his 2nd in command and not his son. Queue power struggle between son and 2nd in command ending with son dead. Boss now reveals he isn't dying and kills second in command and the film ends. In between this Ray Liotta kills people, gets mugged and other people die, plus a couple of Afghani's pop up.... So, if he wanted them dead why not kill them in the first place using Ray Liotta (contract killer who he hired any way) for anonymity. Why go to the trouble of acting ill to go into all this farce, and I'm even guessing this as this isn't explained in the film, you're left guessing..... Those who say this is a character arty film blah blah are right but it's still a really bad and unfulfilling film. Those who compare it to "man on fire" are just wrong, that film rocks and Denzel rocks it, plus it has a plot... So basically don't watch this, watch "man on fire" if you've already seen "man on fire" watch it again, it will be a better use of 95 minutes, in fact I may watch it again now :-) Plus it's called "The Line", which is apparently the drug route from Mexico to the USA, but this film mentions it twice and the name has no bearing on it. It should have been called "Nasty confusing people in Tijuana"

Set in Tijuana Mexico, we open to the stereotypical ethnic minorities conducting some dodgy business. We know it's dodgy business because they are there of course, along with black cars and men in suits and shades. The usual dodgy mob cartel malarkey. Meanwhile at the US Embassy in Mexico plans are afoot to try and stop any number of items including drugs, guns and people from passing into the States from Mexico and the Middle East. Throw in a sub-plots involving the new boss of a cartel being targeted for assassination, a retired boss who wants to come back, US agents dealing with vets and a haunted washed up vet getting close to a prostitute and you can see that it all gets rather messy and muddled along the way. The direction and pace is a little confusing even to begin with as it's difficult at first to tell who is dealing with who and why. Mark Shields (Liotta) is a bit of a mystery character and Garcia appears to be some sort of mob boss Godfather type figure. Unfortunately both are looking rather old and past their prime. Goodfella's this is not. The general cast is pretty impressive though (even if none of them are Mexican, though I guess Danny Trejo looks the part). Trejo is stereo-typically cast and Bruce Davison (X-Men) makes an appearance, but given he appears in anything these days, that's not helping much. In fact the best character and acting is from Jason Connory, it is a really shame we really don't see more of him in bigger production features. As for the rest of the films quality, pacing is bad, the camera is all over the place and quite annoying and there are far too many over used reused aerial shots of Tijuana itself. The music/score is also all wrong though if you like your crime thrillers in the hood and think Little Big Toes is the next big rap sensation, then it might be to your liking. For a film with the cast that it has (which also includes Armand Assante in a rather strange role) I'm really not sure how it could all go so horribly wrong. The film is slow, with little atmosphere and by the end you couldn't care less who kills who and why and just wish you'd been one of the casualties to save yourself from the running time. The Sage's Rating: 4/10

This big steaming pile is the most stilted, ham-fisted, clichéd dreck I've tortured myself with in months. Where's Leonard Pince Garnell when you need him--he'd relish this one. Oh, to have one tenth of the cash they wasted on this, not to mention dragging Liotta and Garcia down into the gutter along with the crew. Una grande pegacito de excreto if ever I endured one. Somebody tell the director that plausible dialogue and believability still have a place in storytelling. The big question is why? Why spend a year and untold money and energy on the beaten to death horse that another damn dope kingpin saga is? Bastante Already. When you drag the audience's noses through the sewers of TJ, there's got to be some kind of payoff. "Barfly"'s subject matter was seedy and seamy, but it had a certain redeeming lyrical quality. This thing is so bad it might stand up better as a comedy as you watch poor old aging Ray as an improbable hit man, eye shadow and lash extenders non-withstanding.

The Line, La Linea, is rubbish. The pretentious dual language title is an indicator that everyone speaks American apart from the occasional Gracias. In the end titles the film is dedicated to the city of Tijuana. Well I ain't going there on my holidays. Every cliché in the book is deployed. Nearly every male has a manicured 3 day beard. I couldn't tell one from the other. There is a prostitute, who ,of course, has a heart of gold and she is, of course, as gorgeous Hollywood actress. Maybe I will visit Tijuana! An amazing cast, check it out. Don't be deceived!

I agree with the other viewers. This is not a great movie, not a masterpiece, but not a corny film either. The story is highly improbable, we can find many non sense in this feature, as in many other flicks of this kind. Large holes where a truck could pass through. There is not real lead, no hero in this tale. And that's what I like. No good guys who fight against bad ones. In fact, where are the good guys? I love that. And Ray Liotta plays here a desperate character as he was in PHOENIX, in 1999. And the ending is very similar to the Danny Cannon's film. A sort of mercenary who's in search of himself, in search of redemption. OK, we have seen that before too. But I always find this interesting. A pretty good actioner.

This movie had a great deal to be excited about, including the setting in TJ, some fine actors who actually turned in excellent performances, a few memorable vignettes that built expectations, and a plot flip late in the movie that was well executed. Unfortunately these component parts were hashed together into an agonizingly slow moving hodgepodge world where nothing made much sense. It was difficult to build tension, or even interest as a multiplicity of characters were tossed into the mix without clear purpose or clear connection to the main storyline, and the storyline itself included major elements that made no sense at all. I don't claim to be the most observant person in the world but I spent most of the movie wondering what the heck was happening. What was the relationship between Liotta and Cruz? Why did she take care of him? Why bring a hired gun into your home with your little girl and get involved in some kind of fight between cartels? Cruz was cast as a big hearted street-wise prostitute, so why would she act so stupidly? And there was no chemistry at all there, so what's the point? Then we have supposedly highly skilled assassins trying to 'get' one kingpin and they take on about 20 guns in a parking lot -- two of them. Really slick. And Liotta, the professional's professional suddenly goes rogue and single handedly takes on a building full of thugs like something out of a Rambo movie. Give me a break. Don't lure us into believing this is some kind of a thinker's gang movie, then toss in some silly one man against the mob action scene. It's worth watching for the scenery, the vignettes that work, and some of the acting. But don't get your expectations up too high. There isn't enough action to make this really exciting, and the plodding sentimentality of much of the plot is sundered by the absurdity of some of its elements.

If you can think of two semi-stars less likely to sell a movie than Ray Liotta and Andy Garcia, I don't know who they would be. The pair of writer-producers who put this mess together have an interview in the DVD extras where they pretentiously explain the thesis behind the themes and plot devices in this POS. Amazing that in the world of Hollywood, the jargonized baloney they spew is taken seriously enough for financiers to respond with film stock money. Danny Trejo said it best in his interview: "What did I like best about making 'The Line'? Firing off that machine gun all morning, man!" Nothing is this movie is not a cliché, incomplete, or just the wrong thing to do. Centering around a dying Mexican gangster's desire to turn over his business to a gang member not his son (why?), the new guy allows Al Qaeda to use drug transport routes to move weapons (why doesn't the old guy stop it?), and kill his son (again, why not stop it?) There are competing incompetent hit men trying to off the new guy (always failing) so the CIA gets involved. Vastly complicated and totally stoopid movie made with the usual tropes, only badly. Oh, and by the way -- there is a rampant tendency these days to include a twist. This one bursts in with klaxons.

Although you'd be forgiven for mistaking THE LINE for an action flick, it turns out to be anything but: this is in actual fact a character study of various interacting and rival personalities in a violent Mexican city. Ray Liotta bags the central and most interesting role as a hit-man traumatised by an event in his past and given the opportunity to make amends in the present. Against him is gang leader Pelon, played to the hilt by the chilling Esai Morales. This is a guy who thinks nothing of torturing rivals to death and who fully deserves his comeuppance – should it ever come about. The supporting cast is made up of an excellent ensemble of actors, including those better known for B-movies (Danny Trejo and Gary Daniels both have brief henchman roles) as well as more familiar faces. Andy Garcia, who's been off our screens for quite some time, is particularly interesting as the former gangster wasting away from a terminal illness. Also look out for Bruce Davison, an unrecognisable Armand Assante and the ever-underrated Joe Morton. This may not be an action movie, but there is at least one splendid shoot-out to enjoy. In any case, the entire film is well shot and the script holds your attention in the snappy, heartfelt dialogue scenes as well as the thriller elements. Comparing it to other recent gangster movies, it comes in under CITY OF GOD but above GOMORRAH.

This is one of those films that has so many characters in it that it's very easy to lose track of the plot as people discuss their intricate relationships and interactions. I enjoyed the film and was engrossed in it, but frequently lost due to the many twists and turns. Of course part of the appeal is wondering just who is doing what to whom and why, so perhaps this isn't as much of a problem as I'm making it out to be. It's a very well-made, well-acted film with a great cast and exotic, frightening location. I doubt it will do much for tourism to Tijuana, but it is a very taut, timely movie that will hold your interest. There are a few typical clichés (the hooker with the heart of gold - Mexicans who speak English to each other even when there are no native English speakers around), but these are kept to a minimum. Ray Liota is one of the producers of the film, but it's not "his" movie. In fact, Andy Garcia does a superb job of being quietly creepy and even a bit sympathetic. If you're looking for a powerful, somewhat dark drama, The Line fits the bill excellently.

If there's anything I love more than a truly well-crafted movie, it is finding one by accident. This is a remarkable piece of art on every level, from casting and script to score, acting and cinematography. This flick left Traffic in the dust and truly gave Liotta the kind of vehicle he deserves. There are half a dozen other great performances as well. Reading anything other than a great review simply amplifies the mystery of diverse taste. I so don't understand how anybody could not enjoy La linea. I'm buying this movie in multiple copies and giving them as gifts. Moreover, the script even contains elements of Mexican surrealism, but without taking the plot into fantasy. I'm going to have to look into the screenwriter and the director because they got this one right. Well done. Marvillosa.