Maid in Manhattan

Rating:
Summary: Leads outshine re-tread script
Review: This was an enjoyable but forgettable movie that has few surprises but leaves you feeling sort of warm when it's finished. If you've seen the trailer, there's probably nothing about this movie that can surprise you.

Jennifer Lopez is Marisa (not Maria!) Ventura, a single mom of a precocious but gifted bot named Ty. She works hard as a maid at the Beresford Hotel, the sort of ultra-ritzy hotel that only exists in movies (and can only exist as composite of several hotels and Hollywood soundstages.) Knowing that she hasn't the advantages, Marisa is ambitious and determined to suceed. With the urging of one her friends and a sage butler played by Bob Hoskins (in a quiet yet dignified beefy voice similar to the one Ian Mckellen used in "Lord of the Rings") Marisa takes a shot at hotel management. The lure of luxury enjoyed by her guests becomes too strong, and when she "borrows" a Dolce afternoon suit belonging to a Sotheby's exec staying at the hotel (Natasha Richardson), Marisa catches the eye of a sweet but ambitious senatorial hopeful, Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes) who thinks her a part of the uppercrust society. Drawn to her, he pursues her, learning slowly that there's either more or less to her than meets the eye (depending I guess on how openly snobbish you are). Will true love (emphasis on the true) conquer class boundaries? Okay, let's face it, this is Hollywood. "Maid" is a pretty thin film, though that's considering how many other "Cinderella" flicks it riffs on - like "Ever After" (a non-fairytale version of Cinderella) or "Pretty Woman". The problem? Though it sounds unlikely, Fiennes and Lopez actually have some chemistry, but there's barely enough of them together. Instead, the flick has Lopez ducking Richardson and keeping out of Fiennes's eye while she's on duty. Then there's the hidden society of worker's that keeps the Beresford relentlessly luxurious - when J-Lo needs to be improbably dolled up for "The Big Night", they come together and pull off a miracle, but where were they for the rest of the movie? Instead, we get Richardson and her snotty friend (in "Maid", the guests are essentially white, rich and never work). If "Maid" works, it's because the stars manage to shine better than the re-tread script - Fiennes and Lopez, but also Tyler Posey as Marisa's son who gets the best line of the movie - "Mom, I don't think he's after you for your money".

Rating:
Summary: JLo sux big time
Review: This movie is awful. The storyline is rushed and incredibly predictable. JLo is trying to put herself in the category with Julia, Kate, Sandra, Renee, etc. as a cutesy actress, and it's just not happening. The only movie I liked her in was Selena.

Rating:
Summary: A semi cute movie
Review: Cute. That's the first word that comes to mind when I watch this movie. The plot has been done so many times it's truly impossible to come up with anything original along the same lines. It's the sort of movie you can watch when you don't want anything that would make you think. Jennifer Lopez is not what I would call a great actress so this movie fit her pretty well. Still, the movie is a pleasant diversion for a rainy afternoon.

Rating:
Summary: Why is Ralph Fines wasting his time
Review: Man is this movie a waste of time or what, i've seen movies like this all the time and it just pisses me off that there's a happy ending in all of them. I mean damn, what is this. Fake acting and stupid charecters, don't buy this.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable but sweet.
Review: That's it, yes, it IS predictable, as we were walking out of the movie theater, I heard a girl ( not yet a woman) comment that the movie was " a chick flick and stupid" . It's exactly what you paid for, the previews on TV are in no way misleading....what did she expect? Another movie with naked women and a few hollywood gallons of blood? Of course it's predictable, if I hadn't predicted it to be an innocent, sweet romance movie with a sappy ending, I wouldn't have went to see it. Okay, so I did go to see Hannibal, and I went to see Superman, because sometimes I'm in the mood for a psychological thriller, and sometimes an action flick, but just SOMETIMES, I don't need gore and sex to convince me it's entertaining..... it's actually refreshing at times to sit back and watch a simple romantic film without so much violence and 10 million dollars worth of special effects. Jennifer Lopez is a good actress, she's convincing even if the outcome is predictable. In fact, I'm not a fan of her music at all ( I'm a lil more old school) but I admire her ability as an actress. As long as you're not expecting a porn flick, a slasher film or high cost special effects, this is a great movie.

Rating:
Summary: Wow, the only thing missing is the glass slipper
Review: Jennifer Lopez - "Maid in Manhattan" (Columbia, 2002)

I watched this movie with my wife and although she liked it (perhaps because it truly is a "chick flick"), I was a little disgusted by the predictability of the whole film. But there were redeeming moments that kept me from scoffing during the movie.

You read the less-than-four-star reviews here and they're all accurate. The story starts when a maid named Marisa (Jennifer Lopez) notices cute politician Chris Marshall (played by Ralph Fiennes) while cleaning his hotel room. Chris and his publicist take the elevator down and run into a kid (Tyler Posley) who just happens to be Marisa's son, Ty. He was staying in the building because he had to come with Marisa to work due to his deadbeat father cancelling his plans with him. After being impressed with Ty's political views, Chris had to see his mother.

Meanwhile, Marisa was cleaning a snobbish guest's vacant room and was peer-pressured by a co-worker to try on the guest's wardrobe. Chris and Ty walk into the room and see Marisa in the beautiful wardrobe. The co-worker tells Chris that Marisa's name is that of the guest who stays in that room; Marisa doesn't "have time" to tell him the truth as Chris takes her and her son out to kick it.

You pretty much know what will happen from that point. Girl is told that she has to stop seeing him to protect her job (in this case, a promotion to management), girl tries to tell boy the truth about herself but gets interrupted by the boy telling his feelings to her, boy finds out the truth from someone else, girl is embarrassed (and fired for stealing a guest's clothes), girl gives the ol' "you-wouldn't-like-me-if-I-told-you-the-truth-about-myself" line, someone comes and convinces boy to take her back (Ty, the obligatory boy who has an adult brain), and boy gets the girl.

But rewind a little bit to the ball where Marisa is invited to by Chris. Marisa is made-over into a beautiful woman but she only comes to tell Chris the truth. When spotted by the same guest she borrowed the clothes from, she splits while Chris chases her. This scene is so painfully Cinderella-esque that I was waiting for Marisa to leave a glass slipper.

So why did I give this three stars instead of two? Because there are two interesting scenes; one is where Marisa confronts her friend for signing her up to become manager, and when Marisa and her co-workers start dancing before they help her find a dress for the ball. They dance to Diana Ross's "I'm Coming Out" (by the way, where did the music come from?).

Overall, if you see the movie, you may not want to see it again because you saw it many times before, if you know what I mean. -EJR

Rating:
Summary: Cinderella version "n"
Review: This film doesn't have anything new. It's not even funny, so it cannot be a romantic comedy. I think it is sort of a melodrama.

Lopez makes it clear that is not a good actress (full of blinks, gasps and tics), and Fiennes is dull and annoying (yes: a real politician).

Besides it is annoyingly full of stereotypes (see the legion of maids of the hotel, see the politician's team, see the awful scene in the jewellery). The story of Cinderella is re-visited for the n-th time and the final is really predictable. Oh, where is true love?

There are no strange situations, no close encounters, no blinking gazes, no love tears and no love joy. Very superficial.

I really prefer Jennifer Lopez being JLo. See whatta mean?

Rating:
Summary: An Old-Fashioned Love Story
Review: "Maid in Manhattan" is the type of old-fashioned love story that one would expect to see in the forties with Jimmy Stewart in his "ah, shucks" manner wooing beautiful blonde Carole Lombard. The basic formula was carried forth to the present in this film, with modern touches applied.

Jennifer Lopez is a busy single mother bringing up a precocious youngster with a penchant for seventies' history who becomes knowledgeable about Richard Nixon and his administration. His mother, after growing up in a poor family in the Bronx, rubs elbows with luxury daily in her job as a maid in the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel, which is given another name for the film. Those of us who are fascinated by the exciting pace of Manhattan can easily find this film interesting for that reason alone, in that much of the movie is based at the Waldorf, home to the likes of President Herbert Hoover and General Douglas MacArthur. While Lopez is ambitious and would like to rise to managerial ranks, she is a little shy about it, and so a fellow maid impressed by her potential fills out an application in her name when, after the departure of an employee, a management position becomes available.

Just as Lopez begins thinking about a move up the ladder she meets Ralph Fiennes, a wealthy and dashing New York Assemblyman who is running for United States Senator. She meets him under pretenses that are false, but not of her own choosing, after he comes to the hotel to stay as a guest and sees her in a beautiful outfit. He assumes that she is wealthy, but the outfit was borrowed from a wealthy guest out of the room at the time. She puts it on after her friend begs her to, explaining that it will do no harm and the owner will never know.

Contretemps are set into motion wherein Lopez' seemingly harmless act is discovered. Not only is her potential rise to the management level jeopardized; Fiennes's high profile status makes the maid's problems a major story in New York City thanks to the tabloids and vigilant photographers. Their budding romance is seemingly cut off at the pass as he turns his attentions, albeit with difficulty given his feelings for her, back to his senatorial quest.

That precocious son of the Manhattan maid surfaces at just the right moment, talking to the prominent politician, asking him, "Can't a person make a mistake and be sorry?" It was obvious from the beginning given the nature of the story that these two would ultimately get together. The fun is in observing how they overcome pitfalls, as well as how each becomes familiar with the other's world. It is particularly helpful to the office seeker to learn about the trials and tribulations of a young single mother fighting to achieve better lives for herself and her son.

Rating:
Summary: Funny movie,though...
Review: though its not her best movie ever, if you want to have a 'easy' evening and dont wanna watch nothing thats about shoting, killing or an really 'serious' movie, thats the movie to go for! Its easy, doesnt make you think a lot. But its helps you to feel better, and why not happier, forgeting about every day problems by watching a Cinderella story, which makes you believe that miracles still happen will work for sure! If you're not a JLO fan, or of any other actor involved, but feel like dreaming go for this movie.
If you are a JLO fan, I dont think you need reasons to buy this dvd ;)

Rating:
Summary: Cute Movie
Review: This was definatly a cute love story, that I enjoyed. It was humorous, yet elegant. I suggest it to any female.