''Highway Patrolman'' (Spanish: ''El patrullero'') is a 1991

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

by the British

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Alex Cox Alexander B. H. Cox (born 15 December 1954) is an English film director, screenwriter, actor, non-fiction author and broadcaster. Cox experienced success early in his career with ''Repo Man (film), Repo Man'' and ''Sid and Nancy'', but since th ...

. It was

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Lorenzo O'Brien Lorenzo O'Brien (born 1955) is a Peruvian-American writer-producer of Irish descent. O'Brien was born in Lima and attended graduate school at UCLA. He has produced many television films and several features including ''Walker'' and ''El Patruller ...

, who also wrote the

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

, and stars Roberto Sosa, Bruno Bichir,

Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez (born November 2, 1958) is a Mexican actress whose breakout role was the 1983 film '' El Norte.''IMDb
film data ...

and Vanessa Bauche. The

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

is by Miguel Garzon and the

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

was Cecilia Montiel, who went on to work on '' The Mask of Zorro'' as well as on Cox's

Alan Smithee Alan Smithee (also Allen Smithee) is an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project. Coined in 1968 and used until it was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild o ...

film '' The Winner''. Cox considers ''El Patrullero'' to be his best work while a number of prominent film critics have expressed the same opinion as well.

Plot

The film tells the story of a young man, Pedro Rojas (Roberto Sosa) starting his career as a

Highway Patrolman "Highway Patrolman" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen and was first released as the fifth track on his 1982 album ''Nebraska''. The song tells the story of Joe Roberts, the highway patrolman of the title from whose viewpoint t ...

in the rural north. He refuses to take part in the

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

in the police force, unlike his friend Anibal Guerrero (Bruno Bichir) who quickly starts taking bribes and peddling contraband. Gradually, Pedro's high principles are eroded by the hardships of his life. Eventually he takes his first bribe. He is shot in the leg, nagged by his father's ghost and beats up the governor's son. His wife Griselda (Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez), tolerates his relationship with a

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

, Maribel ( Vanessa Bauche), provided it doesn't reflect badly on herself and the money keeps coming in. When Anibal is murdered by drug dealers, Pedro's moral sense re-emerges and he takes revenge. The film ends with Pedro resigning from the Highway Patrol, trying to maintain two families.

Reception

Though the film premiered in Mexico in 1991, U.S. distribution was considerably limited. Kevin Thomas of ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' wrote over two years later that it was "a sad commentary on the state of foreign-language film distribution that ''Highway Patrolman''...is only now being released n Los Angeles" Nevertheless, he adds that "we can be only be grateful that it has arrived at last" as he considered the film to be "maverick director Alex Cox’s finest film to date." Thomas observed that "working in a foreign language has given Cox the necessary freedom and detachment not to worry about being hip and to take the plunge into classic screen storytelling, backed by O’Brien’s superbly structured script."

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

of ''

The Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'' concurred that "in some ways it’s ox'sbest work to date – a beautifully realized tale about the life of a Mexican highway patrolman who’s neither sentimentalized nor treated like a villain." He later included it in his year-end top-ten list, observing that "working in a virtuoso long-take style, Cox mixes comedy with tragedy and social critique with straight-ahead action."

Jim Hoberman James Lewis Hoberman (born March 14, 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, author and academic. He began working at ''The Village Voice'' in the 1970s, became a full-time staff writer in 1983, and was the newspaper's senior film critic ...

would also hail it as "Cox’s most impressive comeback" many years later in a retrospective review published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Influence and legacy

The musician

James Rutledge James Rutledge is an English, London-based musician, record producer and remixer. He is from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England. Life James Rutledge studied at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Ashbourne alongside fellow musician Dave Tyack, before ...

released his early music under the name Pedro in reference to the film.

Year-end lists

* 5th – Georgia Brown, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' * 8th –

, ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' * Honorable mention – David Elliott, ''

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

References

External links

*
Alex Cox website entry on ''El patrullero''
{{Alex Cox 1991 films Films directed by Alex Cox Mexican comedy-drama films 1990s Spanish-language films 1990s Mexican films