Can a wealthy Republican politician find happiness with a chambermaid from the Bronx? One man is about to find out, though he hardly realizes it at first, in this romantic comedy from director Wayne Wang. Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez) is a single mother who is raising her gifted but under-confident son Ty (Tyler Garcia Posey) on her own, with some help from her mother Veronica (Priscilla Lopez), after divorcing her husband. Marisa works as a housekeeper at the exclusive Beresford Hotel in
Manhattan, where her boss Paula Burns (Frances Conroy) and chief butler Lionel Bloch (Bob Hoskins) urge Marisa and her best friend and fellow maid Stephanie (Marissa Matrone) to be as efficient and inconspicuous as possible. One day, while cleaning the room of noted socialite Caroline Lane (Natasha Richardson), Stephanie spies a beautiful designer gown and dares Marisa to try it on; against her better judgment, she does, and while all dolled up, she bumps into Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes), a wealthy and well-bred bachelor who is running for the Senate. Immediately charmed, Chris asks Marisa to join him for a walk in Central Park, assuming she's the blue-blooded Caroline. Marisa manages to join Chris for the afternoon, with Ty in tow, and Chris finds himself quite taken with Marisa's beauty and down-to-earth personality, as well as Ty's precocious interest in politics. Chris later calls Caroline's room to set up a lunch date, but soon discovers the stuffy Ms. Lane is not the woman he met before. Marisa is also attracted to Chris, but while her friends encourage her to pursue a romance, Veronica believes her daughter is asking for trouble by trying to win a man so far out of her social strata. The supporting cast also includes Stanley Tucci and Amy Sedaris. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Problem is, there really isn't any dialogue here that suggests that Marisa is truly sassy, or charming, or candid, or that the would-be senator is either brilliant or senatorial, or that her accent-less son is not simply on loan from Hogwarts.
Maid In Manhattan ultimately leaves nothing whatsoever for the viewer to grasp. . .leaving another dead carcass of Hollywood convention packed away and frozen for reheating by audiences who can find nothing else in the cupboard to eat.
The rags-to-riches plot should keep hopeless romantics happy, but you just can't help wondering what Hugh Grant, Sandra Bullock and a team of decent joke writers might have achieved with this one.
Funcionando (ainda que rasteiramente) como um romancezinho água-com-açúcar, Encontro de Amor pode até ser um passatempo inofensivo, mas certamente você encontrará opções melhores em sua locadora.
The story strikes a delicate balance between the Cinderella legend, where the charming prince rescues her from a dreary life, and the self-help notion of working to get a better job.
An ok Rom-Com with a good cast line up. The story is about love crossing a social, class divide. It's very similar in ways to Pretty Woman and more so Notting Hill....with a touch of Cinderella. Far from original, but quite watchable, there are far worse ones out there!
Supported by the obligatory folk rock music tracks, the Cinderella story as a comedy of errors in New York City. A fantasy, sure (that's the point, isn't it?), but a warm and winning one. Marissa Matrone, Bob Hoskins, Natasha Richardson and the unstoppable Stanley Tucci ably fill out the backstory as supporting cast.
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