The Border
Universal Pictures | Release Date: February 12, 1982 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
SalonCharles Taylor
Jack Nicholson is at his best playing a burned-out border patrol officer in a small Texas town. Read full review
80
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Richardson is able to encompass so much in the widescreen frame that he shows how the whole corrupt mess works.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay Scott
A tough, effective, socially conscious melodrama in the old Warner Brothers tradition. [15 Feb 1982]
75
Slant MagazineChuck Bowen
The Border is marvelously detailed. The script, by Deric Washburn, Walon Green, David Freeman, is peppered with lively obscenities and slights that communicate the debauched cynicism of this world. Read full review
75
IndieWireOliver Lyttelton
The film unravels towards the end, devolving into a too-neat shoot-em-up finale that stinks of studio interference, but Nicholson’s performance is a marvel throughout. It’s time it got its due. Read full review
75
The Associated PressBob Thomas
The Border is a well-made action-adventure film enhanced by authentic settings and a superlative performance by Jack Nicholson. [08 Feb 1982]
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The Border has the air of a project marred by studio compromises -marred but not broken. Warts and all, it has more passion, texture and bite than anything Richardson has done in a long while. [01 Feb 1982, p.72]
50
The New York TimesVincent Canby
Although it has been made with intelligence, is well directed and acted and is in touch with the ways of lower-middle-class American life, it has the sort of predictable outrage and shape of a made-for-television movie. It has suspense but little excitement. Read full review
50
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
A Tex-Mex stew that looks to have all the right spicy ingredients, but emerges under gringo chef Richardson as not exactly indigestible, merely flavourless. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Despite fine performances from its lead actors, The Border fails to involve the viewer at more than a perfunctory level. Read full review
50
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Despite Jack Nicholson's multi-leveled performance, The Border is a surprisingly uninvolving film. Read full review
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