5.5/10 Continuing on with my “land” themed reviews, “No Man’s Land” sees the story of a young man involved in an accidental but deadly shooting near the Texas/Mexico border and finds himself on the run throughout Mexico trying to find the father of the boy he killed to make amends. I was worried the story might lean too heavily into politics but was surprised how immigration policies were mostly unmentioned, unlike a couple of awkward lines in “The Marksman”. There are of course some political undertones, especially with how certain characters are portrayed but overall I would say there is a strong balance between the American and Mexican characters. Some of the American characters are good, some are bad. Some of the Mexican characters are good, some are bad. The story is rather simple but has heart to it. The biggest problem the movie has is the pacing. At just under two hours, this movie drags in several places and cutting a solid 15-20 minutes could have really benefitted the movie. The acting is also a tad uneven with the more veteran actors like Frank Grillo and Andie MacDowell making the most of their screen time (even George Lopez was surprisingly good in this) but our leading man and co-writer Jake Allyn, along with a couple of minor characters felt rather weak in comparison. The script jumps around a little too much and lacks focus. Our main character Jackson has to complete with what seems like a thousand subplots. The father who loses his son and his personal struggles with faith. The parents who want what’s best for their sons as they try to nurse their other son back to health in the hospital. The Mexican American border patrol agent who doesn’t speak Spanish and often feels like an outsider on all sides. A potential romance that ends up going absolutely nowhere with Jackson and a Mexican girl named Victoria. If it seems like there is too much going on, there is. A couple of subplots could have been cut out to give more attention and character development to our main characters. Overall, the movie is fine. The heart and emotional weight are the strongest components of the movie. The pacing is the worst with most other aspects falling in the middle. The direction and cinematography are fairly vanilla but get the job done. This makes for a movie you can rent/stream once it hits your preferred streaming service but don’t pay the more expensive options or see this in theaters, if your theaters are open at the time of this review.
#StarringFrankGringo / #ImSorryMissJackson / #SteersAndGreers / #HellOnTheBorder2 / #ThePurgeIntersectionFear / #TragicHikeXXL
Top Pun Reviews 