Tijuana - The MOST Dangerous Place in North AmericaThe Line (aka La Linea) is another movie about drug lords and a cocaine cartel. There's plenty of bullets, blood, and even a babe who is really a hooker with a heart of gold. There's assassins, priests, and a shadowy CAI presence. And to top all of that off, there's a deal brewing between the cartel and some Afghan terrorist.
Written by
R.Ellis Frazier and directed by
James Cotten, this 2009 actioner was released on the 10th of November, 2009 - likely straight to DVD.
The movie is filled with action and there's plenty going on in front of you and some of it not so in front of you. The film is dark in places and dreary, but this is to be expected as all of the film takes place in Tijuana, Mexico - now called the MOST dangerous city in North America.
Ray Liotta, as Mark Shields, crosses into Tijuana and books a room at a decent hotel. Five minutes later, after changing his clothes, he's booking another hotel room. This place is crawling with street walkers, and those so far down on their luck that their lives would have improved if they could find enough upward mobility so they might get up to the level of desperate. The hotel is so seedy that the clerk offers him a room at a half-hour short stay rate. When he says, he needs the room for a few days, she says to Liotta, you don't want to stay here - there's no hot water. But when he pushes two C-notes through the partition she changes her mind. And in our minds, we now know that Liotta has an agenda.
Andy Garcia plays Javier Salazar, the dying head of the cartel. He's on oxygen, he has an IV drip, and he looks like shit. He's just named Pelon, played by
Esai Morales, to be the head of the cartel.
Pelon is now in charge and his first deal is going to be with the Taliban for heroin.
When Pelon was named head - this passed over Salazar's stepson Diablo played by
Jordi Vilasuso - who is plenty pissed at not getting the nod.
Other notables are
Armand assante as the parish priest, and
Valerie Cruz as Olivia the hooker.
Bruce Davison, plays a retired covert operative, very much like
William Dafoe's character in the film
A Clear and Present Danger. He has been asked to form up a team and take out Pelon quickly. And who is asking for this?
Why that would be
Joe Morton who is a section chief for some unnamed agency.
Basically what we have here is a story about how some 6 billion dollars of cocaine passes into the USA via Tijuana. But the powers that be aren't going to allow the Pelon/Salazar cartel to get into bed with the Taliban. So Pelon must go.
There's your set up. Early on in the movie Salazar (Andy Garcia) says,
"Do nothing... If you want to shut down a fundamentally flawed system... all you gotta do is step out of it's way... and it'll shut itself down. Nature has a way of correcting itself."Key and prophetic words.
In a nutshell, this is a provocative film filled with brutality, yet some unexpected character depth. The story varies its pacing, and there are parts that are slow. But the atmosphere is always tense and menacing. The script has some twists and turns, so you will need to pay attention.But at times it is confusing.
My only really major complaint, other than the plot becoming murky at times, is that this film was so dark. You want a light and bright drug film, take in
Blow, or the classic Pacino film -
Scarface. This film has less in common with in those movies, and is more like
Traffic. But keep in mind, that is one went straight to DVD - so this one will hold your attention, but it won't tie up traffic with people rushing out to rent it.
Recommendations: Chak De! India
