Staying real, true to the culture and history, can hurt the commercial potential of a cop-action film, disappoint the fans' expected "one-up" from the latest genre hit. But director Alberto Rodriguez seems okay with that.
Directors give up on plot or accept clichés in order to stay closer to their social missions. It seems that protests are more potent through fiction, and documentaries are more effective through storytelling. Tribeca 2012 is a docudrama festival.