Bordertown (2006)

Reteaming with the writer and director of Selena (1997) nearly a decade after the musical biopic that made her a star, in Bordertown (2006) Jennifer Lopez plays a Chicago reporter with a jones to cover the war in Iraq. It's the big story at the time, so naturally she wants in on the scoop. But her bossman at the Chicago Sentinel, Martin Sheen packs her off to Mexico instead, setting up the premise of Gregory Nava's indictment of the real-life wickedness that surrounds Mexico's factories along the Southern border. Loosely based on a real life series of unsolved murders of female employees of Juarez's maquiladoras (plants that import foreign materials and parts duty-free to produce goods for sale on the U.S. market), the film follows Jen's generous rump southward, where she learns that life is just as bleak on the border as it is in Baghdad. Juarez has been rocked by a spate of slayings of young factory workers, one of whom, Maya Zapata, escapes and tells her tale to Jen and her ex, fellow reporter though he's based out of Mexico, Antonio Banderas. While Jennifer finds out there's a whole lot of corrupt forces trying to keep her story from seeing the light of day, Zapata's cans hit the daylight in a scene where she ends up on the wrong side of some bad dudes. Critics didn't love this one, and Jenny from the block doesn't do much that would please your cock, but if you're into politics, crime, and the ins and outs of NAFTA, Bordertown will be far from boring.