Hey gang, Valkor here. These days it would seem that Mexico is
all the rave; turn on your TV and you’ll hear things like a cartel
boss was arrested, some rich mogul wants to build a wall around
it, or even its people are flocking back towards the place. So
how about we take a look at the latest film to cross my desk called
“Crossing Point”, that pretty much deals with almost everything
that I’ve mentioned (minus the rich mogul and his wall)? Oh and
spoilers ahead, just FYI.
“Crossing Point” puts the focus on new couple Michael (Shawn Lock) and Olivia (Maria Gabriela de Faria), who along with a couple of friends, are off on vacation in Baja, Mexico. So, Michael has only known Olivia for roughly six months, yet he feels that she’s the one for him. He even skips out on a night with the bros to be with her. Well, just before they head out for the evening, Olivia suddenly disappears. A phone call to Michael reveals that she’s been kidnapped, taken by the leader of a drug cartel who goes by the name of Mateo (Rudy Youngblood). Mateo gives Michael an offer he can’t refuse: within twelve hours, he’ll need to smuggle five kilos of uncut cocaine across the border to San Diego, in order to get Olivia back. And he can’t tell the police or lose the drugs in any way. As head over heels as Michael is for Olivia, he does as he’s told. The journey will take Michael into some serious dark territories of not only being a drug courier but also illegal border crossing – without getting caught with the drugs. He first runs into a bit of bad luck when his backpack is stolen by a young girl named Lucille (Paulina Gaitan). Fortunately, Michael is not only able to get back the bag of drugs, but he gets some assist from Lucille’s uncle as well.
All roads lead to a guy named Pedro (Tom Sizemore), who is Michael’s way to get to the other side of the border. However, Pedro isn’t gonna do the job for free; initially, Michael offers him 500 bucks, but Pedro tells him he’ll need 10k for the job. Michael is able to get the money and Pedro almost kept up his end of the bargain. First, Michael is nearly killed by Pedro's thugs, yet he survives… but the other guys, not so much. Then, when Michael gets to the other side, he discovered that the drugs were switched. So he goes BACK to confront Pedro because time is seriously running out. Lucille returns to help him out with an escape and she takes him to an underground tunnel that’ll lead him back to the states.
Quick pause: at the beginning of the film, there’s a raid on a cartel’s home lead by officer Jesus (Jacob Vargas). However, things don’t go as planned and a few of the bad guys escape, which it would seem, Mateo was one of the. On top of the escape criminals, Jesus’s partner is killed in the process. When Michael and Olivia disappear, his buddies call the police, who were already clued in on Michael when he withdrew a large sum of money in a disheveled state. Jesus tracks down Michael, which takes him to the tunnel and brings him to a base of operations, where a group of officers bands together, to track and take down cartels, such as the one Michael is involved with. They learn that the phone Michael has is being tracked by Mateo, and using that info they not only set up a sting at the drop point, but it also leads to a final showdown between Jesus and Mateo.
Oh, and it’s not over! By this point, you would have learned that Olivia is in cahoots with Mateo, so, of course, you gotta have the final face-off between her and Michael, which then leads to a sweet reunion between Michael and Lucille. Sure the ending was nice, but is the trek through this 90-minute film worth it? Let’s find out as we dip into the TOV Breakdown.
The Good:
I was kind of expecting a little more intensity with “Crossing Point”; and while the film wasn’t as thrilling as I’d have liked, it was still worth checking out. The story was tight and very engaging from the jump, plus it’s still packed with plenty of suspenseful and surprising moments (if I didn’t ruin too many already). The plot also does a decent job in how it handles Mexico’s seedy side (with the cartels or border crossings), in relation to current events, which thankfully isn’t totally in your face. With the action, you get a nice dose of it, and while you don’t get too many fist fights, there’s plenty moments with guns blazing. As far as the acting is concerned, I think everyone did a great job, but I was really surprised by the cameo appearance of Luke Goss, who most definitely deserved way more screen time in this than what he got. No, seriously, as soon as the dude is on screen, the film just pops and takes on a whole new level of cool that it should have had from the get-go. It’s still a good film mind you, but with Goss at the forefront, I think I would have enjoyed it more. In the end, “Crossing Points” is the right blend of action and suspense that makes this one worth watching.
The Bad:
My main objection with the film is the use of the “24 clock” (like the one on the Jack Bauer TV series), simply because the time that has passed doesn’t match that of the on-screen action. There were moments where the clock showed that an hour had passed, but given what was happening on screen, you’d think it was more. Then there was like a huge six-hour jump that felt like it should have been shorter. That type of winding down clock doesn’t really work, you know? And that’s not even being petty, as the clock draws you out of the film and you have no choice but to try to make sense of it when really it should have been something to help build suspense.
The Ugly:
Michael’s two friends at the strip club – if my buddies ever acted like that in a strip club… I’d walk out.
“Crossing Point” is available now through digital media such as Amazon Instant, Google Play, and iTunes; it’s not a perfect action/thriller, but it does have its suspenseful moments and its overall very entertaining. I recommend it. And out of TOV 5 stars, I’m giving Crossing Point a 4.
