Movie Review: Under the Same Moon

After his grandmother dies, a Mexican boy crosses the U.S./Mexico border to reunite with his mother, who works as a domestic in Los Angeles

RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2008

RUNNING TIME: 106 minutes

VIOLENCE FACTOR: The young boy is depicted as being in jeopardy, but there's no actual violence.

BAD WORDS: A few, mild and subtitled

On the surface, this is a topical hot-button comedy-drama about the plight of illegal immigrants. But the emotional power of the heartrending and character-driven Under the Same Moon comes not from the political charge but from the mother-and-child reunion that drives the evocative narrative.

Told in Spanish with English subtitles, this is a tale of longing and perseverance. Nine-year-old Carlitos (Adrian Alonso), who lives in rural Mexico, misses his mother, Rosario (Kate del Castillo), who left for Los Angeles four years ago to work as a housekeeper and has been sending money back home to improve the lives of her son and her aging mother.

When the boy's grandmother dies, he takes off on a perilous but eye-opening journey to cross the border and enter the United States in search of his mom. The controversial issue of illegal immigration is casually explored along the way, but what hangs in the air throughout the film is the difficulty and paranoia of daily life as an immigrant, and the question of whether this boy would've been better off living in poverty with a loving mother who stuck around or living with greater creature comforts from the money she sent, but nonetheless separated from her.

Patricia Riggen, directing her first feature, gets brilliant work from her fine cast — especially young Alonso, who carries the film on his small shoulders — and a crucial cameo contribution from Ugly Betty star America Ferrera. Riggen displays her film's heart proudly on its sleeve. So complain all you want about emotional manipulativeness, but see if the ending doesn't overwhelm you. This is, hands down, the best film of the first few months of 2008.

What to bring with you? An appreciation for labor-of-love filmmaking, grandchildren old enough to read subtitles, and plenty of tissues.

GP Rating System:
Three Grands = Bravo, don't miss it.
Two Grands = Good enough, don't dismiss it.
One Grand = Okay, even if we dis it.