Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real "feel-good" movie! Romance, suspense, humor ..., June 1, 2008
I was writing another book review when this movie came on TV. When I saw Jennifer Lopez, I started watching and was hooked from the first scene with her little son. I just finished it and must say I truly enjoyed the time spent watching this "feel-good" movie. It was just what the doctor ordered after a two-day stint with the flu. This certainly went well with my recuperative fare of tea and toast. ... lol ...
In this movie, Lopez plays--you guessed it!--a maid who works in a top-flight hotel in Manhattan.
Maid in Manhattan is a breezy romantic comedy where a rich, handsome, aspiring politician, played by Ralph Fiennes, falls for the maid. Drawn initially by her beauty, he soon comes to know her as an independent, honest woman ... a struggling single mother who puts her ten-year-old son above all else. Tyler Posey does a fine acting job as her son.
Yes, this movie has "shades of Cinderella," like many romance novels and movies, but it has differences in every twist and turn that conspire to keep this unlikely couple apart. At first, because Lopez is dressed in a guest's clothing, Fiennes thinks she is a socialite herself; complications caused by that error lead to many hilarious situations, yet even more heart-wrenching ones.
The sentimentality and romantic warmth of the movie are due to good performances by Lopez and Fiennes, but the supporting actors bring this movie to life. You will be amused by Natasha Richardson and Amy Sedaris in the roles of callow socialites, Bob Hoskins as a dignified butler, and you'll love to hate Stanley Tucci as Fiennes's aggravating campaign manager.
So how does the politician react when he learns his love interest is a maid? How does she take it? You guessed that they eventually get back together--don't they in all Cinderella stories?--but what happens before that transpires? And how does the maid's son react to all this? Does he even like Fiennes's character?
I promise you lots of laughs as you watch this movie and learn the answers to those questions and more. For your enhanced viewing pleasure, I suggest you see Maid in Manhattan with your best girl ... or guy.
Reviewed by: Betty Dravis, 2008
Author of: 1106 Grand Boulevard
The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley
Millennium Babe: The Prophecy
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"Tonight, the maid is a lie!", December 4, 2002
"Maid in Manhattan" is the latest in what I presume will be a very long line of frothy J.Lo vehicles. Is it a great movie? Nope. Is it a good movie? Eh, kinda. Actuallty, it's pretty much a decent Saturday night date movie: no more, no less.The plot concerns the romantic entanglements of a maid (Lopez) working in an upscale New York hotel. She dreams of someday becoming a manager, which evidently no maid has ever done (that's America!). One day while cleaning out a suite, she is persuaded by a friend to try on the designer clothes of a wealthy guest. While wearing them she is spotted by a famous politician, also staying at the hotel. He assumes she's rich, she doesn't correct him, and we're off on the old "mistaken identity" plotline. I would say the screenplay for this movie is just slightly above average, with the characters slightly more fleshed out than we've come to expect from the Hollywood romances of today. The role of Lopez' gifted son in particular is both unusually well written and well played. The one true bright spot here is Ralph "Call me Rafe" Fiennes, playing the politician. He is just great in anything. This is a different kind of role for him: no tortured souls, no misery, just lightweight romance. He pulls it off very nicely. All in all, I would give this movie about a B- or a B ( I incline towards a straight B when remembering Fiennes). I didn't exactly laugh, but I did smile. (Which is more than I can say for "The Wedding Planner".)
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30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
"It's perfect.", December 21, 2002
By A Customer
No, not the movie, silly. It's what Ralph Fiennes' aspiring politician thinks of Ms. Lopez' derriere. There are many such flatteries paid to the star actress in *Maid in Manhattan* -- in fact, that's not even the only reference to J-Lo's celebrated backside. (Considering that it's insured by Lloyd's of London, direct recognition of that part of her anatomy might be stipulated in her film-contracts.) There's been a lot of speculation about how this movie will do financially: will J-Lo be the next Julia Roberts? Will it make as much money as *Pretty Woman* did? Et cetera. Not surprisingly, there's been much less speculation about whether or not the movie is worth seeing. That's because no one, except for Ms. Lopez and her coterie of agents and assistants, cares. Who really wants to see another modern-day Cinderella? *Maid in Manhattan* brings nothing new to the table. Attempts to be "different" (we're told Lopez' son is "gifted", despite the lack of solid evidence; the leading man is a Republican instead of a Democrat) come across as exactly that, and are time-consuming distractions more often than not. And even if you're prepared to dispense with originality, the movie still fails to charm. Lopez' character, a single-mom maid working in a 4-star New York hotel, MUST have a large group of fans (there is no other word) cheering her on, from the management to the security guards to her (naturally) less-attractive fellow housekeepers. One of these even writes up a job application for Lopez, the idea being that if Lopez advances to management at the hotel, it will strike an empowering blow for the new generation of struggling Latinas everywhere. Of course, the movie never considers that this character would want to try out for the promotion herself -- only Lopez must be allowed credit for changing the world. Then there's the scene where all her co-workers drop what they're doing in order to drape J-Lo with borrowed diamonds and designer clothes, just so that she can have a hot date with Prince Charming. Why? Because everyone loves her! (The original Cinderella, not as perfect, was obliged to ask for supernatural aid.) The flattery paid to this overpaid actress eventually sickens the viewer. Ralph Fiennes' milquetoast romantic lead, who spends much of the movie trying to tug himself away from Stanley Tucci -- rather like a mailman dragging along a small, yapping dog that's clamped its jaws onto a trouser leg -- doesn't provide an analgesic for your discomfort.
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