The Onion A.V. Club

Scott Gordon
MAYBE IT’LL TAKE PEOPLE LIKE CHRIS BURGARD TO REDEEM THE AMERICAN POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY.

A friendly Wisconsin-born guy (and former ballet dancer) with a cowboy hat and belt buckle, Burgard’s made it clear that he thinks the federal government should do more to protect ranchers along the U.S.-Mexico border from illegal crossers. In Border, he never lets that cheapen the film or narrow his perspective, and unlike other “documentaries,” he clearly didn’t have his mind made up before he started shooting. He ingratiates himself with the border-watching volunteers of the Minuteman Project, real border guards, and Mexican immigrants, and patiently listens to two sides that fundamentally don’t understand each other. Even if it’s not as revealing as it could be, Border’s thoroughness and lack of malice make up for it.