Beyond Borders (2003)

Beyond Borders is an epic tale of the turbulent romance between two star-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the world's most dangerous hot spots. Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie... See full summary »

Director:

Martin Campbell

Writer:

Caspian Tredwell-Owen

Stars:

Angelina Jolie, Clive Owen, Teri Polo

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Angelina Jolie	...	Sarah Jordan
Clive Owen	...	Nick Callahan
Teri Polo	...	Charlotte Jordan
Linus Roache	...	Henry Bauford
Noah Emmerich	...	Elliott Hauser
Yorick van Wageningen	...	Steiger
Timothy West	...	Lawrence Bauford
Kate Trotter	...	Mrs. Bauford
Jonathan Higgins	...	Philip (as Johnathan Higgins)
John Gausden	...	Jimmy Bauford
Isabelle Horler	...	Anna Bauford
Iain Lee	...	Master of Ceremonies
Keelan Anthony	...	Jojo
John Bourgeois	...	Rolly
Kalyane Tea	...	Steiger's Girlfriend

Storyline

Beyond Borders is an epic tale of the turbulent romance between two star-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the world's most dangerous hot spots. Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie stars as Sarah Jordan, an American living in London in 1984. She is married to Henry Bauford son of a wealthy British industrialist, when she encounters Nick Callahan a renegade doctor, whose impassioned plea for help to support his relief efforts in war-torn Africa moves her deeply. As a result, Sarah embarks upon a journey of discovery that leads to danger, heartbreak and romance in the far corners of the world.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | africa | border | american | hand grenade | 

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Taglines:

In A Place She Didn't Belong, Among People She Never Knew, She Found A Way To Make A Difference.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and war-related violence

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount Pictures [us]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Amharic Khmer German Chechen

Release Date:

24 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amor Sem Fronteiras

Filming Locations:

Charlevoix Region, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$66,237 (Brazil) (26 March 2004)

Gross:

$66,237 (Brazil) (26 March 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandalay Pictures, CP Medien AG, Camelot Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in five months over three continents. There were delays due to fog and heavy rain, but the foreign extras regaled the crew with an impromptu song and dance number.

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Goofs

Dr. Nick Callahan claims a banana has 300 calories. In fact, a medium banana usually does not contain more than 80-100 calories when peeled.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sarah Jordan: I wonder, do we all know where we belong? And if we do, in our hearts, why do we so often do nothing about it? There must be more to this life, a purpose for us all, a place to belong. You were my home. I knew from the moment I met you, that night, so many years ago.

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Crazy Credits

This film is dedicated to all relief workers and the millions of people who are victims of war and persecution. They continue to inspire us all with their courage and will to survive.

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Connections

References St. Elsewhere (1982)

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Soundtracks

"Oye Como Va"
Written by Tito Puente
Performed by Hour Lavy
Courtesy of Chlangden Production and Son Thoeung

User Reviews

It's gratifying that movies like this are still being made

I am appalled to see that the overall IMDb rating for this movie is only 5.2 (edit: now down to 4.9! Madness! Later edit: Ah, now it's up to 5.4 - still abysmal. Oh, and now it's up to 5.9 - going the right way, at least!). Hopefully posterity will be kinder to it than that. It is a very good, well-acted, well-written and well-filmed movie. Apparently, though, it is too subtle for many viewers.

The humanitarian situation it shows is reality. The characters may be fictional, and they may not be representative of the typical relief worker - but they aren't supposed to be. This is a story of those particular two people, and how their feelings for each other grow out of the humanitarian work they are embroiled in. There's no separating the love story from the relief efforts, because she falls in love with him because of his commitment to those efforts. It's true that, at the end in Chechnya, she is more interested in him than in the local situation, but there are two very good reasons for this: One, unlike in Ethiopia and Cambodia she was only there to find him; she wasn't involved in some relief work there, so obviously his safety was foremost in her mind. And two, and more importantly, if she managed to save him, he could have continued being the man she fell in love with; continued his courageous commitment to fight death and suffering. So, I repeat, the love story and the humanitarian subject matter of this movie cannot been separated.

And the thing about her leaving her own family; fer crying out loud, it wasn't a happy family! Her cheating husband represented, both to Angelina's character and in a wider metaphorical sense, the numbing meaninglessness of a trivial, awkward and frequently loveless domestic situation, compared to the importance of saving lives and being in the company of infinitely more inspiring people.

(And what a refreshing change to see her husband - Linus Roach - in the kind of role that so many women portray in the usual Hollywood movie, being the colorless, passive backdrop to the male hero. Gratifying to see it reversed, for once.)

The ending of the movie was unexpected, and yet, in retrospect, it couldn't have ended any other way. If the movie were serious about its subject matter - the relief efforts *as well* as the love story -, it required an end of that sort. The surviving daughter keeps the hope for an eventual happy end alive.

I'm saddened that so many people did not "get" the movie. Many of the criticisms leveled against it are of scenes that were *meant* to evoke that response, and which are addressed later in the movie. There's a development going on; the characters are growing in the course of the story, and so is the movie. Many people apparently couldn't perceive that.

This was an extremely well-structured, rare, thought-provoking and sobering type of movie that I'm thankful could get made in this day and age (and I've just bought the DVD). But what a pity it met with such an insensitive public response.

9 out of 10.