48
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasHas a certain stiffness and awkwardness at the start, but this deeply personal work steadily grows more powerful and eloquent, creating a tragic vision of the plight of illegal aliens that transcends its melodramatic elements.
- 63Boston GlobeJanice PageBoston GlobeJanice PageIsn't the most seductive film ever made about border life or undocumented immigrants, but in a way it's unfair to compare it to such artistic triumphs as ''Touch of Evil,'' ''El Norte,'' ''Lone Star,'' and ''Traffic.''
- 60The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe same willingness to plunge into luridness and melodrama allows The Gatekeeper to work as a taut suspense film on its shoestring budget.
- 50Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenSuffers from Frey’s diluted multitasking. The director, writer, and star are not equally talented.
- 50L.A. WeeklyJon StricklandL.A. WeeklyJon StricklandEarnest, shoestring indie that makes use of some sharp location shooting and sympathetic performances to rise above its often awkward staging and writing.
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceThe DIY approach entails significant limitations, including barely TV-quality visuals and the Seagal-like stiffness of Frey's performance, but the truly hellish portrayal of the workers' post-crossing indentured servitude in a meth lab makes up for a sluggish opening act.
- 40Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThematically the film starts off like “The Believer,” Henry Bean's 2001 drama about an anti-Semitic Jew, and winds up like “Sullivan's Travels” without the comedy.
- 25San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleIt's a movie you want to like, but its sometimes laughably bad execution makes that difficult.