Displays a succinct sensitivity making it [Sayles'] best film since Lone Star.
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.
Theatrical Release:Sep 19, 2003 Limited
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
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Reviews for Casa de los Babys
This is a thought-provoking film, and it features one of the best acting ensembles in awhile -- even by Sayles' standards.
Sayles gives us sample tastes of characters and a situation that could have made a full-course cinematic meal.
Sayles demonstrates a remarkable ability to fully flesh out characters who are on-screen for only a short time.
For most of its 95 minutes, Casa de los Babys is the John Sayles picture for people who always wished John Sayles pictures were a little bit better.
Each woman is a cardboard cutout, and the talented actresses here seem boxed in by their roles.
Though Casa de los Babys is a low-key effort, one that stops as suddenly as if Sayles turned off the camera and ambled away, it asks questions worth pondering.
With the help of his cast, Sayles fashions Babys into a passionately interesting social discourse. He slips in touches of irony, and beautiful moments of raw sentiment.
Casa de los Babys is probably the biggest misstep of [Sayles's] long career
Sayles keeps crankin' 'em out: socially conscious, diversity-embracing ensemble pieces... This one is minor and sketchy...
A jumble of ideas and stunning performances that never coalesce into a satisfying movie.
Even an uneven Sayles film is superior to most such Hollywood dramas.
It is a story without a story, helpless and wandering, enjoyable for its parts but failing as a whole.
Sayles . . . can keep the politics front and center while still maintaining a fierce humanity at the core
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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| 90% 90% | District 9 |
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| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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