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Movies / Upcoming / Casa de los Babys
Casa de los Babys

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Casa de los Babys (2003)

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Reviews Counted:103

Fresh:61

Rotten:42

Average Rating:6/10

Consensus: Well-acted and thought provoking, if not completely satisfying.

Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $312,136

Synopsis: A group of six women from the United States, each of whom wants to adopt a baby, are checked into a hotel in South America waiting for the paperwork to go through. As their wait stretches on for... A group of six women from the United States, each of whom wants to adopt a baby, are checked into a hotel in South America waiting for the paperwork to go through. As their wait stretches on for weeks, they each get to know each other, sharing their hopes and fears. Meanwhile, the film explores every layer of people who are effected by the industry--from the teenage girls who give their babies up for adoption to the nurses that care for them as they're being assigned to new mothers. The local homeless boys sniffing paint in the street clearly don't receive the parenting they deserve, and yet the hotel staff dealing with the wealthy U.S. mothers-to-be sees a different side of the story--these women may not make for competent moms. Actresses Marcia Gay Harden (as the wonderfully difficult Nan), Maggie Gyllenhaal (as the painfully naive Jennifer), Daryl Hannah (as the quietly new agey Skipper), Susan Lynch (as the humble and loving Eileen), Lili Taylor (as the tough and jaded Leslie), and Mary Steenburgen (as the graceful optimist Gayle) are outstanding together, displaying loads of talent and illustrating Sayles' knack for character development. A touching look at what it means to enter motherhood, complicated by issues of class, politics, and pure emotion, CASA DE LOS BABYS is a thorough and pensive film that only a skilled director like John Sayles could create in such a seamlessly effective way. [More]

Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marcia Gay Harden, Daryl Hannah, Lili Taylor

Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marcia Gay Harden, Daryl Hannah, Lili Taylor, Susan Lynch, Vanessa Martinez, Rita Moreno, Mary Steenburgen

Director: John Sayles

Director: John Sayles
Screenwriter: John Sayles
Producer: Lemore Syvan, Alejandro Springall
Composer: Mason Daring
Studio: IFC Films

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Casa de los Babys

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41 - 60 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A drama whose characters are so sketchy and unpleasant they keep tripping over the movie's one-note ideas.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
10/10/03
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

If most of the characters seem underdeveloped, they are also convincing and interesting.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
10/10/03
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

More intelligent and substantive than it is entertaining.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
10/09/03
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The topic--international adoption--is certainly compelling and the performances convincing, but as a drama, Casa de Los Babys never quite comes to life.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/07/03
Marcy Dermansky
Marcy Dermansky
About.com

Sincerity is no substitute for dramatic excellence, and in this case Sayles's ambition proves far greater than his accomplishment.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
10/05/03
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Sayles is the ultimate "on the other hand" guy, which may make for more thoughtful understanding but which is difficult to translate to film, a medium better suited to the dynamic, the opinionated, and the one-sided.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
10/04/03
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Casa de los Babys has a grander scope than Sayles was either able to afford or invest enough time in developing.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
10/04/03
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/04/03
Boston Phoenix

Unfortunately, once the situation is established, Sayles sits on it. The women wait, the workers work and a dramatic arc is not part of the equation.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
10/04/03
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

Light on plot but full of heartbreaking, subtle moments.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
10/03/03
Phoebe Flowers
Phoebe Flowers
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Sayles, a rare screenwriter who consistently creates thoughtful roles for grown-up women, has outdone himself here.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
10/03/03
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

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.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/03/03
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle

A collaborative triumph in which the right actresses in the right roles respond to Sayles' ever-gentle touch.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
10/03/03
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

Turns out to be yet another movie that encourages liberal urbanites to smirk at red-state knuckle-draggers.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
10/03/03
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

Though it should be longer, we're not especially unhappy that it isn't, for being around these women gets tedious.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
10/03/03
Kim Morgan
Kim Morgan
Oregonian

[Sayles] does more showing than his usual telling, without forsaking his interest in people and the histories and societies that have created their problems.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/03/03
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

If Casa de los Babys isn't necessarily a fully realized film, it's still a deeply felt glimpse into dizzyingly complex political and psychological forces that shape the most crucial decisions of a woman's life.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/03/03
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Strong performances.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
10/03/03
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
San Francisco Examiner

a simpler disappointment than Sunshine State, with its obvious political statements and shallowly drawn characters

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
10/03/03
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

This is a strong ensemble but the story kind of has that 'After School Special for Grown-ups' feel - instant histories but not a lot of development for the characters.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
10/03/03
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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