A drama whose characters are so sketchy and unpleasant they keep tripping over the movie's one-note ideas.
Casa de los Babys (2003)
Tomatometer
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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.
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
Reviews for Casa de los Babys
If most of the characters seem underdeveloped, they are also convincing and interesting.
The topic--international adoption--is certainly compelling and the performances convincing, but as a drama, Casa de Los Babys never quite comes to life.
Sincerity is no substitute for dramatic excellence, and in this case Sayles's ambition proves far greater than his accomplishment.
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.
Casa de los Babys has a grander scope than Sayles was either able to afford or invest enough time in developing.
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.
Sayles, a rare screenwriter who consistently creates thoughtful roles for grown-up women, has outdone himself here.
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.
A collaborative triumph in which the right actresses in the right roles respond to Sayles' ever-gentle touch.
Turns out to be yet another movie that encourages liberal urbanites to smirk at red-state knuckle-draggers.
Though it should be longer, we're not especially unhappy that it isn't, for being around these women gets tedious.
[Sayles] does more showing than his usual telling, without forsaking his interest in people and the histories and societies that have created their problems.
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.
a simpler disappointment than Sunshine State, with its obvious political statements and shallowly drawn characters
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.
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