Beyond Borders

Name: Beyond Borders
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance, War
Released: October 24, 2003
Duration: 127 min
Rating: 32
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Clive Owen, Linus Roache

2003

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Ratings

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5.7

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5.7	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Ratings

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Beyond Borders

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: October 24, 2003 | R

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Clive Owen, Linus Roache

Summary: A romance between a medical student turned international disaster relief worker (Owen) and a philanthropist socialite (Jolie) develops over the years and against the backdrop of disasters and wars.

Director: Martin Campbell

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Romance, War

Rating: R

Runtime: 127 min

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Critic Reviews

William Arnold

Its heart is in the right place, and it doesn't flinch an iota from its duty of rubbing our faces in the horror of the Third World over the past two decades. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

A superior soap opera, evocative at times of Warren Beatty's "Reds." Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Jolie, in this movie at least, has exactly two expressions: blank wistfulness and blank dismay. She reduces the tides of history to one more raided tomb. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

Has a TV Movie of the Week righteousness about it -- you can feel the way the filmmakers and the director are struggling to educate us, even as they must surely know, deep in their hearts, that the florid, doomed romance is the real focus of the movie. Read full review

Michael Sragow

Beyond Borders keeps angling for a peace prize; it might have won more hearts and minds if it came together as a movie. Read full review

Mark Holcomb

It all becomes little more than feel-good-about-feeling-bad window dressing, like an issue of "Utne Reader" in Dolby Surround Sound. Read full review

Keith Phipps

Send a check to UNICEF and go see "Lost In Translation," "Mystic River," or "Kill Bill" instead. Read full review

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User Reviews

DawdlingPoet

Nov 26, 2021

This is a romance drama with adventure elements and it covers themes including artistry, relief aid, compassion and medicine. I thought from early on that this was quite a hard hitting film, with the suffering of African children made plainly clear to see and thats while characters are stillThis is a romance drama with adventure elements and it covers themes including artistry, relief aid, compassion and medicine. I thought from early on that this was quite a hard hitting film, with the suffering of African children made plainly clear to see and thats while characters are still in the UK(!). It may be slightly uncomfortable watch for some, in terms of it highlighting the large gaps between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' - something that I feel increasinly uncomfortable about myself, with poverty becoming more of an issue even here, within the UK, let alone on a wider scale, what with the more heavy reliance on foodbanks and the like. This film had the tone and general feel of an epic, with a somewhat war-afflicted setting of course.

Some of the visuals depicted, in terms of people, natives in Africa who are clearly on deaths door, are quite distressing, so please be aware of this. This film is categorised as a romance film and it does indeed have romantic elements and romantic sub-plot but it is certainly not light in tone or otherwise primarily what you may think of as a girly rom-com type of a film.

I found the, at time naivety, of Sarah Jordan to be quite frustrating but then I did feel her character was relatively believable. It wouldn't surprise me if some upper class people (those who have been brought up in a fairly sheltered lifestyle) weren't entirely aware of the dire circumstances, of the endurance that people living below the breadline, in dire poverty, have to deal with.

I thought the musical score was quite decent, with mainly classical pieces played during certain scenes - they heightened the sense of tension and made me feel more concerned about those depicted in the scenes. The grim tone also added to how sobering and bleak the film felt in general, of course.

Cast wise, the two main characters are both played by well regarded actors - Sarah Jordan is played by Angelina Jolie, whole Nick Callahan is played by Clive Owen. I felt they both gave decent performances, although I prefered Clive Owen's overall but then I am quite keen on him as an actor and I tend to see Jolie's acting as somewhat artificial. I'm not entirely sure quite how to explain this but I do. In any case, they both do quite well to convey that their respective characters do care and are, thus, compassionate about the people they try to help out, in Africa and also, certainly in the case of Mr. Callahan, that he is angry, very angry about how some westeners (he believes) choose to look away and disregard what happens. I quite liked seeing how the relationship between these two characters took shape. Other characters present include Charlotte Jordan, played by Teri Polo, Henry Bauford played by Linus Roache and Elliott Hauser, played by Noah Emmerich.

Content wise, other than the obvious bleak scenes featuring the effects of those who have endured long term starvation, the film also contains some violence, mostly war-related, with people shown who have been injured due to mines and the like. There is some strong language present but otherwise not too much likely to offend - there are some sex related scenes but no graphic nudity is shown, nor any explicit references made. If anything, people may be upset or frightened by the details characters tell about what they have witnessed and endured, in such a stark setting. The film has been given a 15 rating due to said content.

I found some of the dialogue frustrating to follow, as it seemed the characters were either talking quite quietly or mumbling - in any case I struggled to hear everything they said at times. This only happened ocassionally but it was still frustrating - I guess we should be thankful that there's subtitles available on DVDs and the like. I also felt there was an mild element of cheesiness present perhaps but it didn't overly spoil the film for me, so its a fairly minor point overall.

While this isn't exactly a perfect film, its not awful either and it has some good things going for it. I would recommend it for the cast and the decent musical score - its quite thought provoking and I think fairly memorable even. It is perhaps a bit cheesy and it does feature some grim, bleak visuals (which should be expected given the serious themes/sub-plot covered), with some of the dialogue requiring me to turn up the volume on my TV but otherwise its a decent watch and thus I'd recommend it.… Expand

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[Anonymous]

Oct 8, 2005

Shows what goes on in the darker parts of the world, but did they have to throw in that LOUSY romance?!!

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oliver1h

Apr 20, 2013

The romance in the movie is so cliché and banal, it almost hurts. The actors (who otherwise can act) are very wooden and lifeless. The movie simplifies every theme it want the viewer to be concerned about. Not recommended.

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kublay0880

Dec 19, 2012

Honestly i think that Jolie it's a great model I've tried very hard to see her as an actress but her performances are just BAD I could think of a dozen better actress for this roll, it is a good attempt to represent the overseas world and way of life but the story surrounding Jolie'sHonestly i think that Jolie it's a great model I've tried very hard to see her as an actress but her performances are just BAD I could think of a dozen better actress for this roll, it is a good attempt to represent the overseas world and way of life but the story surrounding Jolie's character it's very unnecessary.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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