''Across the Line'' is a 2000 American

Neo-Western The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referre ...

film directed by

Martin Spottl Martin Spottl is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose works include '' Across the Line'', a drama set on the US-Mexico Border, and ''Stones in my Passway: the Robert Johnson Story'', a biopic about blues legend Ro ...

and starring Brad Johnson and

Sigal Erez Sigal Erez is an actress, screenwriter, and film producer born into a Moroccan/Jewish family. She best known for her starring role as Miranda in the 2000 American film '' Across the Line''. Biography Sigal Erez was born into a Moroccan/Jewish ...

. Johnson plays a small-town

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

who falls for an

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

(Erez) who witnessed a murder on the

Mexican border Mexico shares international borders with three nations: *To the north the United States–Mexico border, which extends for a length of through the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. *To the south ...

. While not an overtly

political film Political cinema, in the narrow sense of that portray current or historical events or social conditions through a partisan perspective in order to inform or to agitate the spectator. Political cinema exists in different forms, such as documenta ...

, ''Across the Line'' portrays illegal immigrants in a generally positive light and dramatizes their motivations and problems from a sympathetic point of view. In ''

La Opinion LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on Figure 8 ( ...

'' Jean Rodriguez Flores wrote, "The film ''Across the Line'' isn't just about the difficulties of crossing illegally into the United States, but it also reflects the tragedy of hundreds of people who are forced to leave their families for the "promised land." Some critics praised the film for its emotional intensity, authenticity, and integrity, but others questioned it for turning the plight of illegal immigrants into mainstream entertainment. Independently financed and produced, ''Across the Line'' was distributed by

Lionsgate Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...

Plot

Cast

* Brad Johnson as Sheriff Grant Johnson *

as Miranda *

Brian Bloom Brian Keith Bloom (born June 30, 1970) is an American actor and screenwriter. He co-wrote the screenplay and starred in ''The A-Team'', produced by brothers Tony and Ridley Scott. Bloom is the voice of Captain America in '' The Avengers: Earth' ...

as Walt *

Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress, singer and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical '' Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter o ...

as Mrs. Randall * J. C. Quinn as Harmon * Marshall Teague as Ty Parker Johnson * Justin Urich as Billy * Julio Dolce Vita as Jesus

Soundtrack

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Dev ...

composed and performed the score, including the title track, ''Across the Line'', which he released on his 2000 album '' Road Dogs''.

Development

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

was originally cast to play the role of Harmon, the compassionate diner owner.

References

External links

* * * {{Official website, http://www.martinspottl.com/martinspottl-acrosstheline 2000 films 2000 independent films 2000 thriller films 2000 Western (genre) films American independent films American political drama films American political thriller films American Western (genre) films Films directed by Martin Spottl Films set in Texas Films set in Mexico Films set in Guatemala 2000s English-language films 2000s Spanish-language films 2000 drama films Contemporary Western films 2000s American films