Casa de los Babys (2003)

58% of critics liked it
(105 reviews)
47% of users liked it
(1,692 ratings)

John Sayles' Casa de los Babys tells the tale of a half-dozen American women who travel to Latin America in order to pick up their adopted children. They all stay at the same motel while they each wade through the bureaucracy. Sharing with each other their fears, hopes, dreams, and frustrations at… More John Sayles' Casa de los Babys tells the tale of a half-dozen American women who travel to Latin America in order to pick up their adopted children. They all stay at the same motel while they each wade through the bureaucracy. Sharing with each other their fears, hopes, dreams, and frustrations at the thoughts of becoming mothers comprises the majority of the drama in the film. The cast includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daryl Hannah, Marcia Gay Harden, Susan Lynch, Mary Steenburgen, Lili Taylor, and Rita Moreno. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: John Sayles
Written By: John Sayles
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Sep 19, 2003 Wide
On DVD: Apr 13, 2004
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
Each woman is a cardboard cutout, and the talented actresses here seem boxed in by their roles.
Kathy Cano Murillo, Arizona Republic
A raw slice of life that goes beyond the obvious external issues.
Tom Long, Detroit News
It is a story without a story, helpless and wandering, enjoyable for its parts but failing as a whole.
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
If most of the characters seem underdeveloped, they are also convincing and interesting.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Suggests a filmmaker whose vision has become reductive, motivated not by all-embracing interest but by an ultimately self-protective intent not to surrender to blind emotion in any form.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
A collaborative triumph in which the right actresses in the right roles respond to Sayles' ever-gentle touch.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
"Casa de los Baby's" is a frustrating and tedious experience to endure.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Didactic rather than dramatic, and schematic rather than realistic, Sayles' femme-driven yarn, set in an anonymous place, lags behind the zeitgeist with little to say about the issue of adoption or First vs. Third World countries.
Dragan Antulov, Draxblog Movie Reviews
a political pamphlet not very different from others that come from left-leaning Hollywood these days
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Os poucos momentos de maior inspiração não são suficientes para fazer jus à carreira de Sayles, às belas atuações de seu elenco e tampouco ao importante tema de seu filme.
Jordan Hiller, Bangitout.com
Sayles lets the befuddlements and ordinary complications of life take its course like a winding, sunlit stream.
Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
John Sayles' most recent film, 2003's Casa de los Babys, exemplifies his approach to the intersection of the political and the personal.
Sarah Chauncey, Reel.com
Sayles' love of and respect for the culture, and his willingness-or eagerness-to leave the viewer with more questions than answers makes Casa de los Babys superlative.
Jeff Otto, IGN Movies
The story trails off in so many directions that it's hard to follow. After a while, I just found myself losing interest.
Matt Kelemen, Las Vegas CityLife
Casa de los Babys isn't a perfect film. It ultimately seems brief and leaves too much of the women's (and children's) fates to our imagination...
Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly
Goo-goo gag me.
Mark Sells, Oregon Herald
All in all, the film just tries to do too much.
Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
Writer-director John Sayles has successfully tackled so many unexpected subjects that one has to wonder if he's got a dartboard in his office to help him pick his next topic.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dannielle A

I don't particularly care for loose-end-endings in which there are certain plotlines left with no resolutions. That is my only qualm with this gem... it was a very important piece of art about the agony of infertility, the clashing of very different cultures but also the… More
I don't particularly care for loose-end-endings in which there are certain plotlines left with no resolutions. That is my only qualm with this gem... it was a very important piece of art about the agony of infertility, the clashing of very different cultures but also the similarities between them, and about the love of family.
Sunil J

I thougt this movie was just weird.
Leo L

Excellent! Very intriguing. This movie was definitely worth sitting down and watching for.