Maid in Manhattan

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Maid in Manhattan

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Maid in Manhattan

Amy Sedaris, Bob Hoskins, Chris Eigeman, Di Quon, Frances Conroy, Jennifer Lopez, Marissa Matrone, Natasha Richardson, Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Tyler Posey

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 poli...( read more  read more... )tical 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

Id: 10896006

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Maid in Manhattan Recent Reviews
  • magnum32004
    October 10, 2006
    magnum32004
    It was a by-the-book movie. Enjoyable but predictable.
  • SirPant
    September 24, 2009
    SirPant
    I saw it on an Aeroplane, otherwise I would have left!
  • stopitgoaway
    August 8, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    Was Jennifer Lopez going through an "I want to be Julia Roberts" phase in 2002? That was the year in which she made "Enough", a shameless rip-off of "Sleeping with the Enemy" and followed it up with "Maid in Manhattan", which bears a certain resemblance to another Roberts film, "...( read more)Pretty Woman".

    Like "Pretty Woman", this is a romantic comedy based upon a "poor girl loves rich man" storyline. The poor girl is Marisa Ventura, a divorcée with a ten-year-old son working as a maid in a smart Manhattan hotel. The rich man is Christopher Marshall, scion of a wealthy family and senatorial candidate staying as a guest in the hotel. Chris is, unexpectedly, a Republican, a detail presumably inserted in a bid to dispel those persistent rumours that Hollywood's main function is to act as the Democratic Party's amen corner. The two meet and are attracted to one another, but, owing to a misunderstanding, Chris believes that Marisa is Caroline Lane, a wealthy British socialite who is another guest at the hotel. Chris invites "Caroline Lane" to lunch, but he is confused when the real Caroline shows up instead of Marisa. Further complications ensue, including the real Caroline taking a fancy to Chris and Marisa losing her job, but this being a rom-com we know that true love will prevail in the end.

    Jennifer Lopez has some dreadful films on her CV, especially the badly-written, badly-acted and thoroughly nasty "Enough", and the hilariously bad "Anaconda", a sort of fifties monster movie resurrected for the nineties. (I must admit I have never seen "Gigli", widely quoted as being the nadir of her career; if it is worse than either of those films it must be bad indeed). "Maid in Manhattan", however, is one of her better performances, not least because she enunciates all her lines clearly, something which is not always the case with her, and makes Marisa- hard-working, determined and caring- a very likable heroine.

    Rather surprisingly, Ralph Fiennes, who is often at his best playing villainous characters as in "Schindler's List" or "The Duchess", makes an equally likable hero. The rather reserved Chris seems more like an English gentleman than an American politician; there is perhaps a hint that his desire for a seat in the Senate owes more to family tradition than to ideological commitment; both his father and grandfather were Senators before him. The real political animal is his frantically hyperactive spin doctor Jerry (played by Stanley Tucci, who had played a rather similar role the previous year in "America's Sweethearts"). There is an amusing, if somewhat one-dimensional, contribution from Natasha Richardson as the spoilt, bitchy Caroline. The acting honours were stolen, however, by young Tyler Posey, utterly delightful as Marisa's son Ty who plays a key role in bringing his mother and Chris together. Ty is a budding intellectual who has become something of an expert on the 1970s, especially the presidency of Richard Nixon.

    I don't think that "Maid in Manhattan" is as good as "Pretty Woman", which had rather more in the way of character development and psychological depth. Garry Marshall's film gained a bit of extra edge by making its heroine a prostitute and its hero a businessman suffering a crisis of conscience about his less-than-ethical business methods. Marisa and Chris, by comparison, are just a bit too nice right from the beginning. Yet the film, as a whole, is an enjoyable one, if not a particularly original one. Besides "Pretty Woman" it also owes a debt to the Audrey Hepburn/Humphrey Bogart "Sabrina" and to countless other films, plays, novels and stories all the way back to "Cinderella" and beyond. Yet this lack of originality does not necessarily matter in a romantic comedy; the genre, after all, is a highly formulaic one which relies upon a few well-worn plots. What matters is the way in which the basic idea is developed, and "Maid in Manhattan" handles its theme with wit and humour. It's not exactly a realistic film either, but then rom-coms were never intended to be exercises in realism. It will provide enjoyable viewing for anyone looking for something romantic and escapist.
  • xXxHarleyxQuinnxXx
    July 6, 2009
    xXxHarleyxQuinnxXx
    just shows the versitility of my love Ralph Fiennes!! Not that great of a movie tho...predictable...I havent seen it for a long time tho...I should watch it soon. :I
  • 76Majikat
    December 9, 2008
    76Majikat
    A rags to riches romance, that was not unlike the Hugh Grant/Martine McCucheon storyline in ?Love Actually?.

    Sweet and watchable, but one to watch when it appears on tv, not worth renting or buying.
  • free2me122003
    November 6, 2009
    free2me122003
    i love that Jennifer Lopez
  • iggie461
    October 29, 2009
    iggie461
    Couple movie and girls night out film...
  • befreealways
    October 24, 2009
    befreealways
    It was really interesting one ..
    I like jennifer lopez ...she is at acting as well as at singing ...
  • arthurnhk
    October 14, 2009
    arthurnhk
    fiennes looks so good
  • lyfordbr
    October 2, 2009
    lyfordbr
    Mattew é sempre imperdível.
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