Radio Times said this was a 'busy little crime drama with a Michael Mann feel and an impressive cast.' and awarded a credible 3 stars, so I thought it worth checking out on Sky Movies. It follows, based on a true story, a stockbroking tycoon who's made billions ripping people off and now the Feds and some unhappy and disgruntled people are after him.So, as this second feature from writer/director from R Ellis Frazer went straight to DVD, what's wrong with it - and is it worth watching?The cast is certainly good; a grey-bearded Andy Garcia, Aidan Quinn as the unscrupulous billionaire in the title, Mario van Peebles as an FBI agent and Gina Gershon. Oh, and Luke Goss, of course, who actually is OK and now looks much more distinguished than he did with his baby youth looks in band Bros.; tanned, stubbled and with a close- cropped haircut - a more youthful, smoother Jason Statham, if you like.First things first, this is not an action movie, certainly not at first. It meanders and ponders, with impressive but slow camera-work and music that is sparse and suggestive. It picks up after half an hour as more characters get in on the act of hunting down Mr Wright. The story itself is quite difficult to follow, not helped by its un-rushed feel. It made me lose interest in what was going on at times and it often changed scenes and characters at the drop of a hat.The landscapes of Mexico looked evocative enough which helped it roll along but overall, it was all a bit too ponderous and needed tightening up. The lack of any urgency made it more Sunday afternoon than Friday night viewing and whilst I would say it was 'OK', I wouldn't buy the DVD, or recommend it too highly, either. The performances are generally good, but forgettable, as are the people they play.

Everything that's wrong with this movie is right there in the title. It should have been called either "Across the Line" or "The Exodus of Charlie Wright". No film should ever have a colon in its title unless it's a sequel and even that is pushing it. Yeah, I know it seems like a nit picky thing, but just read it again. If you're the sort of person who would be intrigued by something called "The Exodus of Charlie Wright", do you really need the stuff before the colon to sell you? If you're the sort of person who responds to something punchier like "Across the Line", are you going to impressed by the pretentious stuff after that? This title reads like someone crossed a Chuck Norris/Steven Seagal action flick with an art house rumination on personal discovery. It indicates that either the people who made this motion picture didn't think hard enough about what kind of story they were telling or that there was a struggle over it which was never resolved.Charlie Wright (Aidan Quinn) is a financial con man who steals billions of dollars through a Ponzi scheme. When FBI agent Hobbs (Mario Van Peebles) moves in to arrest him, Charlie disappears like Houdini from a milk can and resurfaces in Tijuana. He's searching for a woman and her child, but plenty of people are looking for Charlie besides the FBI. There's Mexican crime boss Jorge Garza (Andy Garcia), who needs Charlie's ill gotten gains to pay off a debt to the Mexico City cartel, and Jorge's younger brother Gabriel (Danny Pino), who's determined to save his family until he simply gives up. There's also Damon (Luke Goss), a hit-man from the Russian mob who teams with a trio of mercenaries to get to Charlie before the Garza's do because Charlie scammed a hundred million dollars off a pair of Russian mobsters. As Charlie turns to an insecure, needy, middle aged love muffin (Claudia Gerri) for information, Agent Hobbs' gay subordinate (Jordan Belfi) walks out of a Tijuana gay bar and sees the fugitive fraudster on the street, bringing Hobbs down to Mexico to complete the starting line up in the Charlie Wright Derby.This movie is so typical of early 21st century cinema in so many ways. Not just because a decent amount of money got flushed down the rathole to produce yet another direct-to-DVD release that will soon vanish beneath the waves of new releases every week. It's that Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright shines on the surface but it rotten underneath. This thing looks good. It's shot well and is nicely paced. The dialog is above average and the cast is more than capable. The concept of the story is also solid. Underneath it all, though, is a plot that is a huge minefield of one poorly thought out and illogical storytelling mistake after another.Let's start with the basics. Why should anyone care what happens to Charlie Wright? He's a thief and the awful nature of his theft is repeatedly emphasized, although the only specific victims every presented are the Russian mobsters. If you're trying to tell the story of a bad man's redemption, you have to give people some reason to want to see that bad man redeemed. But you can't diminish his "badness" by presenting his only visible victims as even worse people because it not only undermines the whole redemption them, it cripples any interest in whether the FBI catches him or not. It's the same thing with Jorge Garza. He's presented as a crime lord who's in trouble entirely because of his own actions, so why should I care what happens to him? Why should I care if Damon and his crew grab Charlie or wind up dead? There are either no answers to these questions or the answers are feebly self-negating.And then there are two essential points in the story that are so unsupported and unsupportable that it's like the Almighty Plot Hammer has been replaced with the Almighty Plot Jackhammer. At the start, Agent Hobbs' boss (Corbin Bernsen) is enraged at Charlie's escape and is 100%, absolutely, totally and utterly committed to tracking Charlie down and bringing him to justice. T hen when Hobbs brings him the tip about Charlie being in Tijuana, his boss not only completely disregards it but actually calls off the whole search for Charlie. And at the end, when there's a literal Mexican standoff between the FBI, the Garza crew and Damon's team over Charlie, the cold blooded mercenaries and the Mexican gang simply quit and walk away. Now, maybe you can explain the mercenaries walking away because the risk is not worth what they've been paid, although writer/director R. Ellis Frazier clearly thinks Damon making that decision is a big deal even though Frazier's done nothing in this film to justify such importance. But Gabriel Garza is facing the murder of his older brother and the destruction of his family…and he merely says "Screw it" and gives up? What?I've noticed that each new generation of filmmakers is better and smarter at how movies look and sound and are edited and all of those technical questions. Simultaneously, they're getting worse and dumber about the most basic elements of storytelling. The result is movies like Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright that are great on first glance but fall to pieces if you think about them for 5 seconds. This is not worth your time.

Nice screenplay writer who did the nice directing. The casting was great, the acting of all the actors on both sides of the border were also top-notched. There was a very strong nostalgic feeling and melancholy touch throughout the whole movie. Rarely a movie would portray from so many angles from so many different parties: The FBI agent in charge with a big heart, the loyal FBI young agent with a dubious gender mix-up, the two past prime Russian mafia, the hired hit-man and hit team from U.S., the desperate Don of the Mexican Northern Cartel(Andy Garcia was so great in this movie), his younger brother(a very cool Mexican actor), his wife, then, there's the lonely Mexican whore, the scamming con artist(Quinn also did a great and very reserved job) who's so desperately trying to locate his estranged Mexican lover and their love's product, a daughter the guy never met before. All these ingredients were put together so smooth, and sometimes, very poetically beautiful.The gun fight scenes were carried out pretty good, the sound track, the camera, the editing, the colors...they are all very classy. An obvious low budget movie, but definitely not a B movie, the production money was well spent. Absolutely worth watching.

Shame I spent full price on "The Tourist" when "Across the Line" was leagues more enjoyable for a dollar Redbox rental.Charlie Wright (Aidan Quinn) is a man apart-he ripped off billions from unsuspecting people in a Las Vegas Ponzi scheme and has retreated to Tijuana to escape persecution. His self-imposed exile is quickly interrupted by Andy Garcia's character, a Mexican gangster who wants a shot at Charlie's money, as well as Raymond J. Barry and Luke Goss playing former clients going for revenge.This was a great film about redemption. I'd agree with another reviewer in that it's an "artsy" portrayal, in that the cinematography is vastly beautiful. The shots of Tijuana and the glimpses of Vegas are astounding for a straight-to-video film.The cast is also great. Aidan Quinn just knocks it out of the park in the lead role, Luke Goss is great as the leader of a group of thugs that includes the grossly underrated Bokeem Woodbine, and Andy Garcia is pitch-perfect as well. Mario Van Peebles does a great job as the tough federal agent going after Wright."Across the Line" was immensely enjoyable, a cool flick with just the right touches of drama and action. Definitely recommended.