The Line
The Line
R | 11 May 2009 (USA)
The Line Trailers

The story centers around veteran assassin Mark Shields as he tracks down, Pelon, the elusive head of the Salazar Crime Cartel. Through twists of fate, Shields ends up with a local woman, Olivia who is also fighting her own demons for the sake of her daughter. Set in the rich and atmospheric backdrop of Tijuana, Mexico, La Linea (The Line) is full of action and drama.

Reviews
Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
ajs-10 On the face of it this looks quite good, an interweaving plot involving drug smugglers, a bounty hunter, the CIA and some terrorists. Unfortunately it didn't live up to its potential. But more of that later, here's a bit about this complicated plot first, without giving too much away. It is modern times and the location is the Mexican border town of Tijuana.Mark Shields is a bounty hunter, he has been employed by… well let's say by parties as yet unknown, to kill the current leader of a drug smuggling ring, Pelon. The previous leader, Javier Salazar, is very ill and has brought Pelon in to oversee his business much to the disgust of his son, known as Diablo. To help him, Mark has employed Wire, another American. The American authorities are also looking into the smugglers activities, especially since they have word that they are about to do a deal with some Afghani poppy 'farmers' to get their product into the United States. The route they use is known as 'The Line' of the title. Mark is haunted by visions of a woman from his past and, at times, he loses grip on reality. He is befriended by Olivia, who takes him in after he is mugged. But he still has a job to do… I won't say any more, I think that's enough for now.Quite a well made film which gave you a good flavour of life on the seedier side of the streets of Tijuana. Quite a slow deliberate pace that, I felt, didn't really help the telling of the story. Having said that, decent performances, with Ray Liotta as Mark Shields and Valerie Cruz as Olivia standing out for me. Honourable mentions also go to; Andy Garcia as Javier Salazar, Esai Morales as Pelon, Armand Assante as Padre Antonio, Jordi Vilasuso as Diablo and Kevin Gage as Wire.At the end of the day I felt this wasn't a great movie, the slow pace and the over-complicated plot made for a bit of a damp squib. There is a neat twist at the end, but by then I had stopped really caring. The plot centred too much on the bad guys which I found a little off putting because I really couldn't engage with them. Over all, not great and not recommended.My score: 4.6/10
hkollar This movie is supposed to symbolize something. I couldn't figure what that was. A very confusing story line, disjointed story telling and some incomprehensible characters makes it a insomniacs delight. Ray Liotta is a sniper, who has killed a lady by mistake in the past. Image of that lady haunts him. We are never told who he was actually trying to kill or who that lady was with sentances like "No one really cared"!! Perhaps the script writer and director didn't!There were too many questions at the end of the movie. Why does the God father go along with this plan? Why he wants his step-son dead? Why the US secret agency doesn't just kill the Afghans? I fell asleep within half an hour! Highly advice you to skip this.
GUENOT PHILIPPE 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.
pcox-mail 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.