Highway Patrolman

When he graduates from the National Highway Patrol Academy to the dusty desert roads around Durango, young Pedro (Sosa) is determined to serve with honour. He's even against bribes, though the woman he marries soon puts paid to that with her repeated demands for a more comfortable life. Gradually the poverty, crime, marital tension and growing self-hatred get to Pedro, and when he stumbles across a drugs operation, he must decide which path to take... back to his old lofty ideals, or on to ill-gained wealth, a new pragmatism, or death. Graced with an aura of authenticity, the movie succeeds as a low-key blend of cautionary tale and downbeat actioner, despite the sometimes glaring budgetary restraints. In short, not as ambitious, let alone as quirky, as most of Cox's earlier work, but it delivers.