The Gatekeeper

The story line is one that appeals to me, being a resident of the Southwest. I have heard every argument pertaining to illegal immigration and kind of stand in the middle of the two sides brought up in this film. In this film, the main character is a self-hating, half-Mexican, border patrol officer. He loathes the illegals with all of his might and makes sure everybody is aware of how he feels (even his fiance, who, why she likes him, I have no idea). The man is a lousy human being. He associates with a racist group that is trying to defame the Mexican people in every way it can. They decide that our main character will go undercover to expose how the illegals come into the country (as if nobody knew). How this will bolster their cause, I don't know. Well, he will make the trip and he will alter his view of these people that he once hated and see that their lives are much harder than anything he has had to deal with. The film is not terrible, but it is far from great. Some scenes are really good, but others are just eye-straining bad, which is understandable for a low-budget film. The plot does strain credibility towards the end, and then some. However, if you are interested in seeing a film dealing with Mexican-American relations, well, this is pretty good, well, it is not that bad.

Although this engrossing film was, apparently, produced on a limited budget, John Carlos Frey, (writer, director, actor), has secured a good insight into illegal border hoppers, mercenary coyotes, and illicit drug manufacturing. The visuals are stunning and newsworthy realistic. All the major players, (particularly Frey himself), turn in exceptionally sensitive characterizations. The opening scenes of secret vigilantes and a rogue border patrolman voicing racial epithets, (and other vile racist attitudes), is difficult to watch. However, the final reclamation of the border cop's heritage and spiritual reformation make this a strong entry in the search for peace and security for everyone on both sides of the Rio Grande.

I hardly ever say this, but this is a very, very bad movie. I gave it a one...I don't think I'd ever rated a movie a one, out of dozens of movies I've rated. For starters, the portrayals are COMPLETELY inaccurate. I grew up in a border town in Mexico (before eventually moving to the border town in the U.S.), and this is not even close to reality. Sure, movies are not reality, but this movie also has no point, no real story, horrendous acting, and, the worst aspect of the movie, an awful script. Every line is not only full of cheese, but it actually doesn't mean anything (to the movie or to real life). Please, if you ever see this movie, do not even begin to consider the possibility of getting anything informative out of it. I really dislike bashing someone, but I can't help to think how in the world this guy got to make this movie and, worst of all, release it nationwide. Again, portrayals of ALL people (not only Mexicans) and individual characters are especially unjust. I actually went into the theatre with a positive attitude and favorable expectations, so if it would've been something in-the-middle, I would've given you the benefit of the doubt, but the truth is that, *gulp*, this is the worst movie I recall watching.

This movie has had a lot of favorable press from Hispanic audiences. The local (Tucson) media has been kind to it. A work of art it is not. So the question is whether you pay attention to the message, or get turned of, like I did, with how it was delivered. We definetly need good movies about the subject of Mexicans flowing into North America. This is not one of them. Once again we learn that actors should not write, direct and star in their own vehicles; as it just leads to a myopathic product.

Amateurs can do great work but almost everything about this movie is C grade. The bad guys all have one expression: self satisfying smirks. All of them must have gone to the Simon Legree school of villainous acting. I would have almost preferred it if they had gone to the Snidely Whiplash graduate school of delightful self parody! And when they misbehave it's in spades, so we can really loathe them. Speaking of Simon Legree there is an Uncle Tom's Cabin kind of simplicity to the movie. There are no shades to the characters, all are one - dimensional. We are forced to like the victims and hate the victimizers.

Frey decides to make his character an angry self loathing bigotted caricature, so that in the end I didn't care if he was redeemed, because he was now an angry other loathing bigotted caricature! Has he grown? We never find out, but in the cliches of these kind of movies we are to presume that he does.

An interesting twist is that the movie is in English with Spanish subtitles. I assume Frey did this to attract an Anglo audience. It would have worked better the other way around, so that the plot could have had a Mexican rhythm to it, and thereby somewhat masked it's faults.

Ok, this is not a great film. It was shot on digital video in 18 days, with a budget of 200,000. However I scored this a 9, because it has more heart and passion than anything Hollywood has put out lately. It should be seen by everyone, especially if you live in a border state. It starts off with some truly awkward racist remarks that will make you squirm. Honestly, I was at first turned off and considered leaving. But stick with it, because after about 15 minutes you will be hooked. Low budget be damned. The director actor star should be applauded and rewarded for bringing this labor of compassion to the screen. It is an important issue, and my eyes were opened.