The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Good thing about Frontera: It has Ed Harris. And he plays his part decent. But everyone else's performance is somewhere between below average and bad. The story is weak, missing any tension or suspense. Former sheriff loses his wife on an incident, because some teenagers where playing with guns to scare away mexicans. One of the mexicans gets caught and blamed for murder. The mexicans wife travels to save him but ends as a hostage for ransom. That could be exciting or at least sad, but the characters remain very shallow and you don't feel like taking part in their misery and struggle, left aside feel any concern for them.Then the mexicans wife is freed, they find the shells and confront a teenager, who start crying and confesses instantly. What a twist! The only real surprise was that Ed Harris talked with the teenagers father, showing some understanding for the fact that it was actually only a very unfortunate accident.To sum up: Can a good actor alone carry a otherwise weak movie? He can try. And it prevents the movie from being terrible. But it's also far from good. Not even average. Frontera left me with the feeling that it wasn't really worth the time.

Frontera (2014)Part of me says: any movie that helps our understanding of the real illegal immigration situation from Mexico should be watched. This does that.The problem is made immediate and intimate, and you are meant to understand both sides of the issue. It also avoids for awhile the sensationalism of lots of these cross- border dramas. A young man crosses into Arizona in one of those remote areas where it seems possible to sneak through and walk away. Some American kids taking pot shots at him with a high powered rifle end up accidentally killing an American woman on her horse (she falls off when the horse is spooked) and the immigrant becomes the main suspect.This all happens early in the movie, and it is the dead woman's husband, played by Ed Harris, who holds up the other half of the movie. We follow then the Mexican (played by Michael Peña) as he flees and encounters "justice" (and later his wife, played by Eva Longoria arrives to help him). And we follow Harris who steadfastly digs into what really happened. So there is plenty of drama here (one reviewer on rotten tomatoes said this had no drama, and that is completely false—just wait until you get to the coyotes kidnapping people). And yet there is a sense of balance, that there are good guys and bad guys and misapprehensions on both sides. You might say this makes the movie too balanced, so it lacks punch, but instead I think it has depth, which is better.It's imperfect, for sure, as things get wrapped up and plots become increasingly intertwined. But overall I found it strong and well intentioned. And well acted, set in some genuine looking arroyos and deserts (it was filmed in New Mexico).

I really enjoyed this movie. Good story, good writing, very well acted, nice camera work… it pretty much hits all my buttons. But at its core, its a good story about good people caught up in a whirlpool of unfortunate events, some to be expected, some unexpected. But all sadly plausible. Here's a hot tip to those who drag around their political and racial baggage with them: leave your suitcase of gripes in the lobby. If you can't enjoy the movie for what it is without yapping about imaginary liberal/marxist/PC conspiracies and propaganda, better not see it at all. It might just challenge your prejudices.. and then where would you be? But I don't want to emphasize the wrong things in this review. Its a good movie. Go see it.

Frontera is an intense story about an illegal immigrant wrongly accused in the death of a woman. The movie shows the journey of one man to find work in the US and shows some of the pitfalls of illegal immigration from the immigrant's perspective, including how coyotes, and sometimes Border Patrol personnel, may take advantage of these desperate people as well. This story also portrays how law enforcement may rush to judgment without investigating all the facts. Ed Harris plays the husband of the deceased woman and as a retired deputy, is determined to find the facts surrounding his wife's death. Michael Pena is outstanding as the accused. While depressing at times to watch, the story is realistic and an excellent story to experience.