Search - The Shepherd: Border Patrol on DVD

Way over the borderline . . .

trebe | 11/08/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Shepherd (2008) is a crime adventure, where routine and reality, quickly become non-factors. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Jack Robideaux, a New Orleans police officer newly transferred to a border patrol unit operating out of Columbus, New Mexico.

Things on the border are usually quite tense, but it is evident that the situation has changed, when Robideaux and his partner Billy Pawnell (Gary McDonald), apprehend an illegal with C4 strapped to his chest. Smuggling has gone to a new level, due to ex-US military personnel turning to crime. Benjamin Meyers (Stephen Lord), formerly of the special forces, is the leader of the smugglers, who have a plan to transport a huge shipment, using a bus. Violence erupts, when their plan unravels. It's comic book time, when hidden panels slide back to reveal machine guns, manned by the mercenaries disguised as priests. Robideaux and Pawnell go cowboy, illegally pursing the bus into Mexico.

The new guy moves fast, and certainly has all the luck, becoming tight with his female CO Captain Ramona Garcia (Natalie Robb), getting a partner that is morally conflicted, and winding up in the heart of a storm, hanging tantalizingly upside down over an electrified pool. Meyers seems to be in love with the sound of his own voice, and he and his crew are not too bright, which creates an opportunity for escape.

Just barely in touch with reality, The Shepherd is an entertaining ride, that takes itself much too seriously. Although the plot is events are most unlikely, Van Damme plays it mostly straight throughout. Robideaux's grief for a lost daughter, seems an extraneous element in the story. Still physically fit, Van Damme doesn't employ the same kind of tricks favored by Steven Seagal. Among Jean-Claude's recent films, this is one of his better efforts. Presentation is anamorphic widescreen, with subtitles, but no extra features."