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In the breezy
Maid in Manhattan, a maid in a top-flight hotel (Jennifer Lopez,
Out of Sight,
The Wedding Planner) chances to dress in a guest's clothes just when a handsome political candidate (Ralph Fiennes,
Schindler's List,
Red Dragon) walks in. Naturally, he's bowled over and pursues her; he's initially drawn to her gorgeous good looks but soon comes to appreciate her honesty and common sense. Of course, she can't let him know that she's only a maid, and various high jinks ensue--it's all pretty formulaic, but lurking in the edges of this glossy, brainless romance are a wealth of sly turns by Natasha Richardson and Amy Sedaris (as callow socialites), Bob Hoskins (as a dignified butler), Stanley Tucci (as Fiennes' exasperated campaign manager), and many less familiar faces. All help to give
Maid in Manhattan the life and texture that has been processed out of the main characters.
--Bret Fetzer
From The New Yorker
Jennifer Lopez once showed great promise as an actress: her early roles in "Selena" and particularly "Out of Sight" displayed a tough, sexy charisma. In this would-be romantic comedy she plays a New York hotel maid who's mistaken for a wealthy guest and pursued by a Senate candidate, played, rather grudgingly, by Ralph Fiennes. The director Wayne Wang photographs the city as though it were all one big luxury apartment-everything is shiny and well scrubbed-but there's no silkiness in the wooden pairing of Lopez and Fiennes. At this point in Lopez's determined pursuit of fame, she carries a lot of baggage. The recording career, the clothing line, the celebrity dating have made her a diva, but in wanting so desperately to be all things to all people, she's also a model of mediocrity. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006
The New Yorker