The Gatekeeper
Published March 19, 2004
Adam gets an urgent call and shows up in a poor neighborhood to attend the bedside of a sick and delusional older woman. This scene provides some over-the-top melodrama that reveals Adam is a self-hating, half-Mexican. Part of this hatred stems from the fact that his mother was a prostitute. It's utterly confusing as to which parent is Mexican. At first I thought it was the mother because of the setting and people around her, but then Adam talks about the john who potentially fathered him. Luckily, my confusion quickly subsided as I watched in disbelief as Adam tore apart his mother's kitchen while ranting about all the Sweet n' Low she stole from restaurants and the horrible garage sale dishes his mother kept. He storms out of the house, destroying a Lady of Guadalupe statue.
Adam has a fiancee and they have strange scenes together. She catches him masturbating in the shower one morning and later, after storming out of his mother's home, there's a quick and startling cut to him having rough, angry sex with his fiancee. She complains to him to stop. Her character doesn't accomplish anything or even contribute much to the plot, so I'm not sure why she's in the film.
In an effort to step up their campaign against illegal immigrants the right wing group decides to send Adam to Mexico, wired with a tiny video camera and a GPS tracking device, so he can document how the illegals gain entry into the country. Why this footage would be helpful no one explains. Nor does anyone notice how easy Adam looks the part with just some hair dye.
Once in Tijuana, Adam, who speaks fluent Spanish, takes on the name Juan and pays to get brought into America. He is told it is a partial payment and will work off the rest once in America. He waits in a room with a group of people who will make the journey with him. The men who are their guides, known as coyotes, hand out mysterious plastic bottles that they are told everyone will need when they get to America. The crossing goes surprisingly easily, but then the coyotes get to the exact farm that Adam's friends are waiting at. Because this is such a lucrative yet dangerous business, the coyotes are armed with semi-automatic weapons and slaughter all of Adam's buddies except one who is hiding. With no way out, Adam gets into the truck headed for the work farm.
- The Gatekeeper
- Published: March 19, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Writer: El Bicho
- El Bicho's BC Writer page
- El Bicho's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us



