Trying to make a silk purse out of a javelina ear…

Las Cruces has been used as a location for many movies over the years. Some were dreadful, others marginally okay. I can’t really remember a truly good one. Nevertheless, it does bring some income and notoriety to the area.

The latest movie to plan on filming in Las Cruces is one that will feature Mel Gibson. “The Informant” began filming mid-July in the old Dona Ana County Courthouse, which has been abandoned for several years in downtown Las Cruces.

The movie focuses on an undercover narcotics officer with a terminal illness who is trying to assure his family of financial support. He hatches a scheme to work with his former partner and an informant to stage his own death in the line of duty, assuring his family of a comfortable living.

The movie is based on a true story, which occurred in upstate New York. So how do you fit a place like Las Cruces in that script?

“It’s not easy to make Las Cruces look like (upstate) New York,” said producer Daniel Cummings.

Well, at least he was honest about it. Most the Las Cruces scenes will be interior shots, which could be done anywhere. But there are some exterior shots planned around the old residential area near Pioneer Park. Still kind of a stretch, I think.

My concern is that during the middle of filming the exteriors, someone will drive nearby in a beat up Chevy pickup with loud mufflers and a Juarez radio station blasting loudly through an amped up super woofer speaker. It would kind of kill the mood, I think.