Cartel Land

Matthew Heineman went above and beyond in making this documentary about the efforts of vigilante groups to combat the drug cartels operating on either side of the Rio Grande. Yet for all the risks he and his crew took recording firefights, gunpoint interrogations and torture sessions, the result is frustrating as an insight into the methods employed by ordinary Mexicans and Americans seeking to regain control of their lives. It opens in a meth lab, but the focus falls on Dr Jose Mireles, who leads the Autodefensas citizens group in its battle against the Knights Templar cartel in the state of Michoacán. On the other side of the border, forces veteran Tim "Nailer" Foley's paramilitary Arizona Border Recon seems to be as determined to stem the flow of migrants as narcotics. But the comparison between these groups does not bear fruit: the ABR seems to have little understanding of the drug trade, while the Autodefensas is too ready to borrow the cartels' intimidatory tactics in conducting a grassroots war that it ends up losing to infiltration and corruption. The handheld widescreen footage is often terrifyingly full-on. But Heineman is too content to allow his subjects to strike heroic and ethical poses, with the result that his film lacks the necessary perspicacity, objectivity and trenchancy.