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‘Between Borders’ Reviews: Middling Religious Refugee Drama Tracks the Case of an Armenian Family Searching for Home
Though it addresses a timely subject matter, director Mark Freiburger’s inspirational feature suffers from stilted performances and didactic writing.
Timely as the subject matter remains in the current political climate — especially since most Americans have little clue as to how their government institutions treat refugees and immigrants — the latest inspirational narrative from director Mark Freiburger(2013’s “Jimmy”), who co-wrote the screenplay with Isaac Norris and Adam Sjoberg, aims for middling impact at best. Proficiently crafted as far as production design and cinematography go (the sets and exteriors are believable enough as Eastern Europe, while the camerawork and lighting appear unimaginatively standard), “Between Borders” runs on didactic writing that renders the Petrosyans’ plight into a derivative period drama. Such instances of over-explanatory context and uninspired, ill-timed dialogue evolve into the verbose and on-the-nose speech that Ivan utters when confronting a group of hooligans, or to the judge in the case (played by Michael Paul Chan) reciting the text written on the Statue of Liberty before announcing his verdict.
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