Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez) is a reporter for the Chicago Sentinel. She is forced by her boss (Martin Sheen) to go to Juarez to do a story about a series of mysterious murders of young factory women who are attracted to the new jobs at the maquiladoras. She doesn't speak much Spanish and reconnects with independent reporter Alfonso Diaz (Antonio Banderas). The police is corrupt and trying to cover up the murders. Eva Jimenez (Maya Zapata) is a young woman who was taken by a bus driver to the dump where him and another man raped her and left her for dead. The only person she trust is Diaz. She goes to his newspaper but the police is close behind. Diaz is taken in by the police leaving Eva and Lauren alone together.Writer/director Gregory Nava got a couple of A-list stars to do small roles in this but it's Lopez that's asked to carry this thing on her shoulders. She needs help as an actress to keep this movie moving. Banderas is good but he's not in this enough. The movie keeps separating them which is a mistake in my opinion. The story is ripped from the headlines with some action added in. Nava isn't good at the action scenes. This is generally a weak construction. There isn't much of a mystery since everything is laid out right in front of us. It struggles to be a thriller or a mystery. Nava doesn't have the skills and the tension is very low. Then Lopez goes undercover and all the logic goes out the window. I don't know why she has to work in the factory since they know it's the bus driver. Also I don't know why she doesn't have somebody follow the bus. It's a bus and isn't that hard to follow. But the movie isn't done and it keeps going down the rabbit hole.

The final image of Gregory Nava's masterpiece "El Norte" (1983) haunts me to the date: an human head hanging on a tree, a sign that forces us and the main characters of that film to never forget that the fight against any form of oppression still goes on, and a reminder of the past when being opposed to wrongdoings was a sign of death, execution. That was a story about an Indian family from Guatemala making his excruciating hard way to the land of opportunity in U.S., running away from years and years of being exploited in their life and their hard work. Nava's most recent film has as target some of the same problems of his eternal film, the exploitation suffered by many hard working women in the world who are just finding a way to live a decent life, making their money, living under the worst possible conditions that the third world has to offer and deal with rapists, killers, exploiters of any kind. In his latest picture, Nava presents Jennifer Lopez playing an reporter whose mission is to investigate the countless murders of many women in a Mexican town, at first those cases could be viewed as the act of an psychotic with an certain modus operandi. Not the case. We follow the journey of an survivor of the brutalities committed by (as we see at first) a small group of men later supported by government, police, influent people and even the U.S. politics. It's the media who has the part of denouncing such crimes but not even that it's possible, since the Mexican newspaper are constantly attacked, and more deaths are added to this deadly machine. "Bordertown", on the contrary of "El Norte" manages to have some glimpses of hope when it comes to its conclusion. Just a glimpse. The violence still goes on, the attacks on women are present not only in Juarez, the city presented here, but around the world, and there's still many injustices, lack of investigation and authorities convenience in many of the cases. What counts here is that someone who lived under better circumstances is finding a way to help the victims and bring the case to justice. A film denouncing such complex situations deserves lots of merit, and some praise. Cinema is much more than just entertaining, it's also about informing. "Bordertown" gets some credit for such but there's so many aspects of it that made of it an weaker project, things that shouldn't happen. One can forgive some strange choices, such as having an female reporter investigating women's attack when (let's not be hypocritical here) we all know that she's a young and beautiful woman and attackers tend to notice that. Trade Lopez by, let's say Lupe Ontiveros. The story would move differently, right? One can forgive some of the excessive and quite unrealistic moments of when Lopez fights with her boss because he can't publish her story to not risk American business in Mexico, I don't buy an journalist jeopardizing her career in order to help someone, stick to the cause (but I do believe in that heated argument 'Are we business men or are we news men from "The Insider"). But one can't forgive some weak acting, poor development, terrible editing and strange cinematography that didn't help us see the movie. Some messy parts ruined what could be a great movie. It's a good movie directed by an accomplished director but it's also his weakest work so far. For those who prefer not watching it because think this is another Jennifer Lopez flick, I would advise you to watch it, since she and Nava make great collaborations (see "My Family" and "Selena"), he makes of her an better actress. They're not at their greatest partnership but still worths a view. And then there's Antonio Banderas, Martin Sheen, Sonia Braga and a cameo of Juanes playing himself. Good cast, they're OK, but I've seen them better. The outstanding name here is the young Maya Zapata, who plays the victim who survived the aggressions. Difficult role and a memorable performance. "Bordertown" opens our eyes to deep and real problems, talks about valuable gestures that makes a difference in a troubled world, but treated this real story in a strange and unrealistic way. Cinematically, it's unreal, sure it can't be too much truthful, otherwise it wouldn't have appeal on the audience. But even so it haven't got so much interesting. Good and that's it. 6/10

I first heard about this film through my mom who recommended I watch tho movie for myself. I just recently bought it and I just got through watching it. I though it was a little slow in the beginning but it picked up pretty quickly. I HIGHLY recommend this movie!! This movie is based on the true story of murders and rape of several factory workers who are women. It is a shocking look at what is really going on in Juarez, Mexico. I thought Gregory Nava did a great job with this film(I am a fan of his work, I LOVE Selena). I thought Jennifer Lopez actually did a good job in this movie(I know a lot of people don't take her seriously, but she really did a god job in this movie). This movie is great to watch because it actually deals with real issues that have happened and that ARE STILL happening today. If you buy the DVD or rent it, check out the bonus features as they are really interesting to watch. I'm glad that they made a movie about such a strong issue as this but it's horrible to know that it's the truth.

This is not the kind of movie I usually see, and I must admit that while watching it on TV, I gradually realized that it was not the documentary film I expected. The story is based on a horrifying and tragic reality of raping and killing of women on the Mexican border, of which I did not know anything, as underreported throughout the world. The movie has so the laudable merit of bringing to light and denouncing the terrifying drama of thousands of women being raped and disappeared in those waste lands, working in those appalling "maquilladoras", where even the most basic human rights are completely disregarded, and where deep economic interests prevail over respect for human dignity. However, as the story progressed, I realized it was more an action-thriller than a documentary picture, standing out for gripping though improbable, twists, a tense and quick pace, intertwined with some more relaxed and relaxing moments, which appear as really improbable and above all of bad taste and out of place if we consider the grave topic of the movie. It is as if that worthy aim gives way to more entertaining and market needs. So my doubt was: how can such a highly committed movie be bent to the logic of the box-office? How can you shift your attention from scenes of rape of terrifying violence to the underlining of J. Lo's perfect silhouette? It is evident that the production aimed at attracting audience through an attractive cast and some shrewd devices, such as pacing action, a thriller-plot, sentimental flash-backs, some entertaining music, thus losing its seriousness and credibility. I watched it till the end, because it was gripping and, like all thriller movies, you want to know how it ends up, but I realize this is not the reason why I should have wanted to see it till the end, and in this sense I think it is, in the end, a failed movie.