Borderline Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Borderline Blu-ray Movie Review

'Till death do us part.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III August 17, 2025

A self-described romantic comedy that forgets to bring enough laughs, writer-director Jimmy Warden's Borderline is best summarized as "almost, but not quite." Though released in 2025, its shooting predates Warden's viral Cocaine Bear by a full year and the script dates back to 2020, where it was featured as part of that year's "Black List" alongside other recent efforts such as Apple TV+'s The Gorge and the surprisingly solid Fight or Flight. Borderline doesn't reach those heights, pun intended, yet this production has a few memorable moments and a admittedly interesting premise, not to mention a co-starring role for Ray Nicholson following his appearances in Licorice Pizza and Smile 2.

Taking place in late 1994, Borderline traces the crooked path of Paul Duerson (Nicholson) as he obsessively stalks pop singer and actress Sofia Minor (Samara Weaving) in and around her Los Angeles home. Sofia's not named "Madonna" but she might as well be, due to her massively popular music career, her starring role in an all-female baseball comedy, and of course her relationship with Dennis Rodman stand-in Rhodes (Jimmie Fails). They're out on a date one evening when her lone bodyguard Bell (Eric Dane, and a bit more on his character later) answers the door to find grinning Paul decked out in a suit and seeking Sofia's hand in marriage. Eventually stabbed in the stomach after entertaining Paul's delusions for far too long, Bell recovers at home for a few months with his wife Eleanor (Catherine Lough Haggquist) and daughter Abby (Yasmeen Kelders) before returning to the job... not that it'll ultimately do much good.

What follows, of course, is Paul's return to the scene of the crime months later after he escapes from an institution with fellow patient Penny Pascal (Alba Baptista). Reuniting with his old pal J.H. (Patrick Cox), an oversized man with one bad eye, Paul and company easily bypass Sofia's security and set the stage for what will hopefully be his actual marriage to her at a venue yet to be disclosed. Sofia's got Bell and Rhodes for protection, sort of... but since Borderline begins at the ending as seen above, it's pretty obvious that Paul at least partially succeeds in his dramatic quest for love.

There's at least a little to unpack during Borderline, but not much holding it all together due to the "almost, but not quite" factor. Despite the obvious attention its script got back in 2020, in my opinion it's the film's weakest element by far: character motivations are all over the place, the scenes between Sofia and her boyfriend are flat as a pancake, the plot relies far too strongly on fake-out deaths, and there just isn't enough good material here to justify even a modest 95 minutes. (One major exception is moment I won't spoil that involves a particular character standing in for Sofia at the altar, which might be the film's most inspired idea.) Additionally, Bell's character is awful at his job and this gross incompetence, made worse by the idea that a mega-star would only hire one bodyguard, is the only reason Borderline's plot is set in motion. Combine that with the needless appearance of his family during the film's third act and Nicholson's (pun intended again) borderline overacting, which comes off like a store-brand combination of Jack Black and Joaquin Phoenix, and you've got a film that shows obvious and fatal seams despite a few sporadic highlights.

Dripping with bits of bloody violence and peppered with at least some successful stabs at black comedy, Borderline feels like the kind of frustrating film that should work but ultimately doesn't. (And don't get me started on its 1990s setting, which isn't all that convincing and seems to only exist to eliminate cell phones and the like.) I didn't consider it a total waste of time -- and more forgiving fans might be won over by certain elements that escaped me -- but either way, Magnolia Pictures' new Blu-ray at least offers interested parties a low-priced permanent copy.

Borderline Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Speaking of "almost, but not quite", this Blu-ray's 1080p transfer shows plenty of highlights but falls sadly short in other areas. The basics are covered well enough with decent levels of fine detail, good color representation, and a conventionally attractive overall appearance that falls within expectations for a modestly-budgeted all-digital affair. Borderline's outlook isn't as rosy in the encoding department, as it suffers from mild macro blocking as well as obvious and pervasive amounts of banding and black crush in extremely dark and underlit scenes that occasionally render what should be smooth gradients as a blocky, patchy mess. While the good clearly outweighs the bad here by a solid margin, the sporadic lows are bad enough to keep it out of even modest four-star territory despite what should be a sufficient bit rate on this single-layered disc. If you're not sensitive to such things, though, it won't bother you as much.

Borderline Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio fares slightly better, as this DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix delivers a solidly capable sonic experience from start to finish. On-location audio is warmly rendered, from dialogue to front field-effects, while the rears are filled out more fully from post-production elements including environmental noise and music; this includes atmospheric pop cuts like The Flaming Lips' inspired 2009 cover of Madonna's title track, diegetic radio songs like The Cardigans' "Lovefool" (which was actually released in 1996, but whatever), and the original score. No real complaints here, as Borderline basically sounds more or less like what you'd expect for a film of this type.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature... but oddly enough, they're forced during any and all singing performances. This is clearly a disc defect yet it didn't really bother me since I typically leave subtitles on during playback, but of course your mileage may vary.

Borderline Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover art and a lone bonus feature.

• The Making of Borderline (6:51) - This short and mostly minor promotional piece features the usual light and fluffy interview clips with members of the cast and crew including stars Samara Weaving and Ray Nicholson as well as writer-director Jimmy Warden.

Borderline Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I normally don't judge a film by its budget, but Borderline would've worked better with more resources at its disposal. (Even so, good scripts don't have to be expensive and that's probably its weakest element.) A tasteless but occasionally entertaining blend of romantic comedy and darkly dramatic character study, it's a really mixed bag but might win over fans of writer-director Jimmy Warden and his earlier film, Cocaine Bear. Sadly, Magnolia's Blu-ray is uneven with OK visuals, an odd subtitle defect, and not much in the way of extras. Try before you buy, surely.