BORDERLINE
(director/writer: Jimmy Warden; cinematographer: Michael Alden Lloyd; editor: Joe Galdo; music: Mondo Boys; cast: Samara Weaving (Sofia), Ray Nicholson (Paul Duerson), Eric Dane (Bell), Jimmie Fails (Rhodes), Alba Baptista (Penny), Patrick Cox (J.H. Calhoun); Runtime: 94; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Tom Ackerley, Brian Duffield, Hadeel Reeda, Josey McNamara; Magnet Releasing/VOD; 2025)
“Different kind of home invasion film.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Jimmy Warden, writer of the Cocaine Bear, in his directorial debut, offers his take on the 1996 incident, where a violent stalker threatened to kill Madonna if she didn’t marry him. Saved by her bodyguard, the man was arrested and convicted, receiving a ten year sentence to a mental hospital. Warden bases his preposterous comedy-horror film on this true story, and uses Madonna’s 1984 hit song as background music.
Some might not find it funny that the cause of this insane crime is a Borderline Personality Disorder, a real mental health condition where the unfortunate have difficulty maintaining their emotions.
Samara Weaving plays Madonna using the name Sofia. The singer takes time off work and takes a break from her live-in relationship with basketball legend Rhodes (Jimmy Fails), a stand-in for Dennis Rodman (they had a brief affair in 1994).
On the night Sofia’s alone in 1996, a disoriented fan with severe mental problems, Paul Duerson (Ray Nicholson) and fellow inmate Penny (Alba Baptista), break out of a mental hospital and break into the Los Angeles mansion of the successful but disillusioned pop star, pushing past the security guard (Eric Dane). Paul then asks Sofia to marry him, and holds her psychologically hostage to convince her his fantasy is also her fantasy. He’s in her home for hours, as she can’t believe the absurd situation she’s in is actually happening. Sofia goes from feeling terrified to just being annoyed at this awful person.
The nutty Duerson convincingly and comically stages this dark fantasy marriage scene, sometimes with charm and sometimes with scary romantic moments that realistically show no grasp of reality.
This blend of a thriller and a dark comedy is a flawed film that thrives on the gutsy performances of the two stars and its offbeat story. It sometimes moves along well as an intimate claustrophobic different kind of home invasion film. But is eventually done in by how silly and tiresome it becomes.
REVIEWED ON 3/23/2025 GRADE: C+
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