Border Lines

The Julia Roberts/ Brad Pitt caper ''The Mexican'' opened with a bang this weekend, blasting ''Hannibal'' out of its three week position at No. 1 and scoring an estimated $20.3 million in ticket sales. Despite mediocre reviews, few analysts were surprised to see the south of the border adventure about a cursed gun open strongly. ''The Mexican'''s success can be explained in ''two words,'' Dan Marks, vice president of ACNielsen, told EW.com: ''Julia Roberts. She never fails at the box office -- she's absolutely consistent.''

The weekend's other wide release. ''See Spot Run'' ($10. 2 million) also overcame decidedly unenthusiastic reviews to debut in second place. The PG rated David Arquette and a mutt comedy knocked ''Hannibal'' ($10.1 million) down two notches to No. 3. Chris Rock's ''Down to Earth'' (No. 4, $8 million) and Oscar nominee ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (No. 5, $4.9 million) rounded out the top five.

Two indie flavored movies opened promisingly in limited release: ''The Caveman's Valentine,'' a mystery thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson, had a $7,750 per screen average playing in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and ''Series 7: The Contenders,'' a satire of reality TV shows,'' earned $32,000 on just two screens in New York and L.A. Both will open in more theaters next week.

CRITICAL MASS In their first onscreen pairing, Roberts and Pitt proved a bankable couple at the box office. But EW.com's readers' poll indicates that the A list duo are destined for only a brief reign atop the movie chart. Overall, readers graded ''The Mexican'' a C, slightly lower than the critics' ho hum average of C+. While an overwhelming 79 percent said they saw the movie for its stars (including ''The Sopranos''' James Gandolfini), nearly half of our readers indicated that the film did not live up to expectations. As a result 54 percent said that they will definitely not see the film again, and, more importantly, a dismal 39 percent said that they would not recommend the offbeat romance to friends.

''See Spot Run'' fared slightly better among EW.com's discerning voters. Overall, readers gave the movie a C, much higher than the F that critics dumped on Arquette and his four legged friend. And more than half indicated that they would gladly recommend the movie to friends. Strangely, the highest grades for the kid friendly flick came from the 40 plus crowd, which rated it an A. Meanwhile, the under 29 group brought the comedy's average way down, scoring the film an F. Kids today: They have so much taste!