The Movie:

Frontera is an issue-based ensemble melodrama that manages to extract enough emotion to get its points through while staying fairly levelheaded. It's not a masterpiece by any means and suffers from some of the technical and narrative issues that usually plague a first time feature director, but it's also nowhere near as preachy and pretentious as similar efforts like Babel and Crash. The fact that it doesn't try to cram in a miniseries worth of characters and sub-plots and manages to keep its scope down to a number of characters you can count with two hands really helps as well.

The issue this time around is illegal immigration. Theater actor and director Michael Berry's feature directorial debut examines the way an unfortunate accident affects the lives of a handful of strangers, as well as the aftermath that deftly shows how certain prejudices, this time about Mexicans and illegal immigration, can dangerously get in the way of uncovering the truth.

Miguel (Michael Pena), a respectful man and a hard worker, crosses the border from Mexico into Arizona in order to provide for his wife Paulina (Eva Longoria, who must be willing to back this project so much that she uses the poster for Frontera as the thumbnail on her IMDB page).

When Miguel and his careless partner Jose (Michael Ray Escamilla) trespass on the land belonging to xenophobic ex-sheriff Roy (Ed Harris) and his more open-minded wife Olivia (Amy Madigan), they're taken aback when Olivia helps them find work instead of kicking them off her land.

Unfortunately, she falls off her horse and dies when a trio of young punks decide to scare Miguel and Jose into going back to Mexico by shooting at them. After Roy finds Miguel alone with his dead wife, he assumes that he killed her while trying to steal her horse. Things go from bad to much worse when Paulina gets kidnapped by coyotes while trying to cross into Arizona in order to help Miguel beat the second-degree murder charge.

Berry, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Louis Moulinet, finds the right balance between realism and melodrama. He shows how our prejudices about different races can easily cloud our worldview without devolving into some of the unfortunate far-left depictions about the issue where every Mexican character is a stoic and honorable man of the earth and every American is a bloodthirsty, racist, gun-and-bible-toting redneck.

The first scene alone plays a clever bait-and-switch where a group of Mexican men surround a house, only to sing for their elder family members. It sounds like a cheap trick, but it did make me think whether or not I would have given into the tension of the scene if it depicted a group of white suburban kids doing the same thing. The opening eases us into identifying with Roy, who, given his character, understandably blames Miguel before seeking out the truth.

The acting is top notch all around. The way Roy handles the loss of his wife in that typical emotionally closed patriarchal way reminds us again why Ed Harris is a legend in his field. Michael Pena is one of the finest actors of his generation and is in dire need of a breakthrough part that will finally turn him into a star. End of Watch got him close but he needs one more significant push.

His reserved performance, as well the scene where he finally blows up in a genuinely heartbreaking way after learning about a tragic occurrence, all prove that he's still a force to be reckoned with. Eva Longoria's presence feels like the typical "Gorgeous A-lister goes plain for low-budget drama" stunt casting but in all fairness, she gives it her all and successfully gets lost in the role.

The overzealously operatic score is perhaps the biggest problem with the film. It's understandable if the locations full of breathtaking open spaces inspired the filmmakers to construct an Elmer Bernstein-style western score, but it feels out of place with such an understated drama.

The film also presents what should have been a perfect ending that takes place in Roy's horse stables where characters find some emotional closure, only to tack on ten more unnecessary minutes and a frustratingly on-the-nose climax to finish on a down note.

The Blu-Ray:

Video:

The 2:35:1 aspect ratio of Frontera takes full advantage of Arizona's gorgeous open vistas. It was shot using Arri Alexa digital cameras, which unfortunately feels obvious from the first frame on. This is the kind of movie takes advantage of the locations interconnected to the story and a more film-like look, or even shooting on film, could have helped. Yet considering the possible budgetary constraints, shooting on film might not have been an option. The 1080p transfer of Frontera still manages to look clean, crisp and beautiful, vibrantly bringing the many shades of desert yellows and greens to your living room.

Audio:

For a drama, Frontera sports a surprisingly lively and energetic surround experience via its DTS-HD 5.1 track. Some of the tension-filled scenes employing a fair amount of gunplay come with some considerable power and depth. Even the dialogue-based sequences contain some detail-oriented ambient sound that takes advantage of all of the channels.

Extras:

Unfortunately, no extras are provided.

Final Thoughts:

Frontera is a decent drama about prejudice that surprisingly doesn't pander or condescend to the audience. There isn't anything really special here but at least a rental definitely wouldn't hurt.

Oktay Ege Kozak is a film critic and screenwriter based in Portland, Oregon. He also writes for The Playlist, The Oregon Herald, and Beyazperde.com