Maid in Manhattan

December 14, 2002

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Stanley Tucci, Tyler Garcia Posey, Bob Hoskins

Director: Wayne Wang

Official Website:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/maidinmanhattan/

If you have ever seen any romantic comedies, then Maid in Manhattan should not be teaching you anything new, it is simply a self-proclaimed feel good movie made for the holiday season. Behind all the stereotypical mushy predictable storyline, this movie does score some points for some of its aspects and still holds up in its own category.

I expected this to be a terrible movie and thought I`d have a heck of a time writing a slasher review, but came out with only a handful of insults. First off the entire supporting cast is very very thin on quality and sometimes look totally clueless with their role. But that`s ok. Their masterful performance is sure to put them off screen so we don`t have to deal with them in any other movie. In the meantime, they`re a good laugh.

The movie was very sloppy and lame in the first 45 minutes or so. So many stereotypes, bad transitions, useless dialogue, it looked like I was going to have a field day with this one. But once the real obstacles came, the movie turned for the better and concentrated more on the main characters, who are ok and have some chemistry on screen. Ten year old Ty has some funny lines and has a nice role in this one. I liked the effects the romance had on their professional lives (ie. the press or their jobs) more than the romance itself, something the trailer doesn`t talk about.

That`s another thing. Whoever made their thin, cheesy looking trailers should go back to making Chia Pet commercials. To those who don`t want to see it because it looks incredibly stupid, it`s better than it looks, but not that much better.

The first half of the film gets a D for its stupidity, but gets a B+ for the better second half, and C+ overall, better than I thought I was gonna give it!

In short:
Comedy: A few comical situations, the kid, else none
Violence/language: Some strong language, but no F words
Nudity/Sex: None
High Points: Somewhat of a chemistry duo, sweet comedy
Low Points: Very thin supporting cast, holes in plot, Predictable

Rating: C+