Linewatch

On the surface it would seem that Linewatch is going to tackle the controversial illegal immigration debate that is going on in the United States these days. At first it seems that’s exactly what’s going on. We meet border patrol officer “Mad Dog” Dixon (Gooding, Jr.) doing patrol in the hotbed of illegal immigration the Southwest. He comes across a group of illegals dead and has a run in with a citizen patrol which acts much like the Minutemen in the media today. The way the film is set up you are expected to believe that this gung ho group of patriots is perhaps responsible for the carnage. It turns out they’re on the war path for the coyote who did kill the group. So, before long we’ve got the makings of a nice relevant story on our hands. Then something goes horribly wrong, both for Mad Dog and for us, the viewers. It turns out that Dixon was once a member of a Los Angeles street gang called The High Noon Gang, or HNG for short. Now the old gang pops up at his home. It appears that Dixon has killed their drug runner, and now their stash is on the wrong side of the border. The gang threatens to kill Dixon’s wife and young daughter if he doesn’t help get the stuff across. Now we no longer have a border story but a typical, done before a million times, gang banger tale. All of the Minutemen setup is used as gunfight fodder, and the issues are explored no further.

I hate when movies do this to me. They allow me to settle into what is shaping up as a good film experience, and suddenly pull the rug out from under me and end up becoming a film I’ve already seen about a hundred times. Don’t get me wrong, Gooding is still a pretty solid actor, and he does his best to make the character work. The problem is that the film becomes one long cliché. The landscape might still be the deserts of the Southern American border, but the characters are straight out of the hood. In the feature included on this disc, everyone talks about the immigration issue, but it ends up having nothing to do with the film. I consider this movie to be a wasted opportunity to tell a compelling story. The film has a pace that can make a tortoise appear to be traveling at warp speed in a circle. It goes nowhere very slowly.

Video

Linewatch is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1. There are some wonderful vistas present here, and the transfer handles them pretty well. Colors are usually a little dark, which is a bit of a surprise considering the desert landscape. There’s minimal grain, and the film appears a little soft. Mostly it’s a very average effort worthy of a direct to video release.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is often wasted here. Everything pretty much happens up front. There’s actually a lot of quiet on this film. It seems the director felt we needed time of quiet contemplation to look at the scenery a bit. You can hear everything including the dialog just fine, but don’t expect anything dynamic. The sad exception to that rule here is the annoying rap music that occasionally finds its way onto the film. Here the subs are almost overpowered, and all I’m left with is how I feel when some idiot is riding down the street with his sub pumped so high he’s shaking the entire house. For some of you that will translate into a solid audio plus.

Special Features

Crossing Borders – Behind The Scenes Of Linewatch: Your typical half hour collection of clips, interviews, and behind the camera footage. Again I marvel at how original they think this is. Gooding looks a little embarrassed and has his head down during many of his interview clips.

Final  Thoughts

This is strictly a rent only film, and then only on a very slow release week. You’ll be tempted to pick it up to see Gooding, Jr. and that’s exactly why he’s there. Don’t be fooled; even an Academy Award winner like Gooding, Jr. can’t save this plodding mess. They tell you it’s a ripped from the headlines story about the Mexican/American border. “It’s fake.”