Fantastic Fest 2011: BORDERLINE Review

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. When life hands you a bag of cocaine, make yourself into a drug dealer (?!). 

In Borderline (AKA Une pure affaire), a silly comic trifle with a small, dark heart, David Pelame (Francoise Damiens) is innocently walking his dog one night when he comes into possession of the aforementioned bag of cocaine. Since his career and family life have been sputtering lately, he decides to pick up a little extra money by going into business for himself, touching off a chain of events that slowly spirals out of control.

David and his wife Christine (Pascale Arbillot) are not a terribly happy couple. He's been elbowed aside at his place of business by a younger rival named Brice Teller (Laurent Lafitte), while she is summarily fired from her job for insulting her superiors. At home, Christine would rather listen to her father Michel (Didier Flamand) than David. They can't even agree on an appropriate curfew time for their teenage daughter Marion (Anne Duverneuil), and their younger son Romain (Nicolas Marie) appears neglected.

Cocaine changes everything.

David and Christine agree to sell all the drugs they have, first setting down some ground rules (no kids, no sales to someone who doesn't look like they can afford it). Soon, they're rolling in dough, and everything's looking rosy. David displays much more self-confidence in his sales job and gets back on the good side of his boss, puzzling and displeasing Brice. Christine glories in their newfound wealth, and lands a good lead for a new position. The kids enjoy the benefits, too. All goes well until an unexpected guest joins the family for Christine's birthday celebration at a fancy restaurant. The suave, well-dressed stranger (Gilles Cohen) seems to know who they are; he even addresses David and Christine by name. Very quickly, he establishes why he's called, simply, Boss.

Boss would like his bag back.

The good times end as quickly as they began. David and Christine, who seemed to have renewed the love they had when they first married, are placed under great strain as they discover that drug dealing is not all fun and games, not when you have a boss lurking nearby who would be quite content to kill you without a moment's hesitation. They convinced themselves that they were throwing off the shackles imposed upon them by living honestly and fairly, never getting ahead in life. What they learn is that there are serious repercussions for making a mid-life career change.

First-time feature filmmaker, Alexandre Coffre, who wrote and directed, makes a fine, light souffle out of the opening sequences. Unhappy as David and Christine are, it makes for a pleasant transformation when things start going their way. As the story becomes a bit darker, there remains an underlying, sparkling current that keeps bubbling out from time to time. When dramatic weight is added, it threatens to crack through the thin surface, but before the movie crashes or become too portentous, Coffre dials back the tone.

Borderline is a sweet little comedy, after all. It melts in your mouth and leaves a pleasant aftertaste.