October 29, 2004
Casa De Los Babys
Directed, written and edited by John Sayles
Rita Moreno .... Señora Muñoz
Bruno Bichir .... Diómedes
Daryl Hannah .... Skipper
Lili Taylor .... Leslie
Mary Steenburgen .... Gayle
Marcia Gay Harden .... Nan
Maggie Gyllenhaal .... Jennifer
Susan Lynch .... Eileen
Casa De Los Babys follows the story of 6 women (5 American and 1 Irish) who have been living in a Latin American country for a couple of months, hoping to adopt a baby.
John Sayles' writing is thought provoking and meaningful. He manages to present all sides of the story without being heavy handed and not too biased. I say "not too biased" because I felt that the characters themselves provided a bit of a bias. The hopeful mothers are portrayed as very sympathetic characters whereas the opposition to the idea of wealthy Americans buying Latino babies comes from a character who is slovenly and militant.
The acting is exceptional from all parties, especially the street kids (who were real street kids and not actors). John Sayles is very good at working with young children and it shows in the scenes with the street kids. The ensemble cast of the mothers is fantastic. Each one brings a different nuance to her character, yet still manages to convey the desperation of wanting a baby.
The movie feels, at times, almost like a documentary, especially when dealing with the "locals" mainly due to the camera work and the editing.
While I do enjoy most of John Sayles work, I do believe that he could have benefited from an outside editor. There are too many groups of people that we're supposed to care about. The mothers, the hotel owner and her son, the lawyer who's helping the women broker the baby deals, the staff at the hotel, the 15 year old girl who gets pregnant, the out of work man who wants to live in America, the street kids, even the babies themselves. The movie shows you all of these groups and at times it gets to be a little boring. Granted, these groups are interconnected and some affect others. There is a point for having all these groups to tell a complete story but it does, at times, pull focus from the main story.
Posted by xinh at October 29, 2004 02:30 AM