The Fence (La Barda) - On DemandOctober 08, 2010
HBO
On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: “The Fence.”
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In 2006, in the frenzied fear of Homeland Security, Drugs, and Illegal Immigration, Congress decided that what this country needed was a fence. A great big, expensive fence to protect us from the terrorists, drug dealers and illegal immigrants coming from Mexico. And so it was. Sort of. Rory Kennedy’s incisive documentary explains the foibles and follies of our protective boundary with Mexico. (Note that no one has suggested one with Canada).
Back in 1999, I saw Ms. Kennedy’s first documentary, “American Hollow,” and although heartfelt and sincere, it certainly lacked polish. Well, no longer. “The Fence” is not only entertaining and educational; it is also a highly polished and concise piece of documentary filmmaking. At a brisk 36 minutes, “The Fence” cleverly informs the viewer without undue polemicizing.
“The Fence” shows how inefficient, badly made, and poorly designed the fence is. In some areas, it just stops, in other areas, it does not follow the border, in others, it is already falling apart. It’s also incredibly expensive, both to build and maintain. Oh, and there are the facts that not one single terrorist has entered via the Mexican border and the drug war and illegal immigration continue unabated. Ah, our tax dollars at work.
In a little more than a half an hour, “The Fence” gets across more information than any news special or pundit could with a full hour. I wish Ms. Kennedy could make a weekly series of these kind of docs, but I’m sure it’s a lot more than a week’s work to make such a finessed short project.
Jean Tait is a contributing writer to On Demand Weekly. Currently the Director of Programming for the Connecticut Film Festival, Jean has programmed for the Jacksonville Film Festival and Sundance Channel.
Check out previous reviews by Jean Tait:
