It's a bit of a guilty pleasure, with its formulas and its sap, but if it can get Lou Dobbs reaching for that Kleenex, it will have done its job.
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04/13/08
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Under the Same Moon (2008)
76
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:19
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: If Under the Same Moon is often manipulative, it is also heartfelt, and features strong performances from its leads.
Theatrical Release:Mar 19, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $12,507,834
Synopsis: Director Patricia Riggen delivers a heartwarming debut with UNDER THE SAME MOON. The story of the enduring bond between mother and son, the film stars Kate del Castillo as Rosario, a mother... [More]
Starring: America Ferrera, Adrian Alonso, Jesse Garcia, Kate Del Castillo
Director: Patricia Riggen
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Reviews for Under the Same Moon
Top CriticThe performances -- and the movie's sideways glance at the culture of illegal immigrants, including a funny song about Superman ('He has no social security and no green card') -- give the movie its nicely controlled vitality.
04/04/08
Top CriticThe strong final third counterbalances the weaknesses of the first half.
04/04/08
Top CriticUnder the Same Moon (La Misma Luna) is the nightmare Lou Dobbs has when he goes to sleep at night.
04/04/08
Top CriticIf Under the Same Moon is formula melodrama, the film is well acted and its lead character perceptively drawn.
04/04/08
Top CriticA story that's too cute, too corny and too contrived.
04/04/08
Top CriticUnder the Same Moon, despite some mature themes, is fine family entertainment. It is a crowd pleaser in the best sense of the word, compelling, humorous and profoundly moving.
04/03/08
Top CriticI thought we had some really fine performances here.
03/24/08
Top CriticIt has the feel of truth and is a vivid reminder of the hell Mexicans put themselves through to live in the United States, even illegally.
03/21/08
Top CriticYou may be pleasantly surprised by how affected you are by the small kindnesses the boy finds... And you may be absolutely shocked at how moved you are when finally, gratefully, Carlitos' journey comes to a joyful end.
03/21/08
Top CriticDirector Patricia Riggen's film mostly succeeds, despite a sometimes maudlin story that seems to bring multiple dangers a day to its young hero.
03/21/08
Top CriticMuch of the plotting is schematic, and some of the moments meant to tug our heartstrings clearly flow from the melodramatic telenovela form. Yet the scheme transcends itself in surprising ways. Love conquers lots, while the kid conquers the rest.
03/21/08
Top CriticYour enjoyment of this picaresque tearjerker may depend on how much you can tolerate its shameless contrivances and didactic social realism, whereby the story exists only to illustrate the plight of illegal aliens.
03/21/08
Top CriticThis largely Spanish-language film brings on the waterworks because its core story is undeniably affecting. The whole movie, however, would be more convincing if the elements around that vital core were more multidimensional and less contrived.
03/21/08
Top CriticUnder the Same Moon is a heartfelt story of unquenchable hope, with the plight of illegal immigrants serving as an intriguing and timely backdrop.
03/20/08
Top CriticWhat does it say about a film when you believe only parts of the journey, yet are moved by the arrival?
03/20/08
Top CriticThanks to the uncommonly shrewd judgment of screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos and director Patricia Riggen, both newcomers, Under the Same Moon never feels like rank exploitation, even as it steadily aims for the emotional jugular.
03/20/08
Top CriticAn enjoyable story of hope and resilience, buoyed by the performances of Kate del Castillo as Rosario, the mom, and Adrian Alonso as Carlitos, her son.
03/20/08
Top CriticA drama of mother-son love that lunges for the heart from its pulsating curtain raiser to its leap-for-joy fade out.
03/20/08
Top Critic[An] overly sentimental drama, which -- although sweetly well-intentioned -- is stereotypical and overwrought.
03/19/08
Top CriticLatest News for Under the Same Moon
March 20, 2008:
Critics Consensus: Drillbit Taylor Flunks; Guess Shutter's and Meet the Browns' Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got a wacky bodyguard (Drillbit Taylor, starring Owen Wilson and Leslie Mann), a wild family reunion (Meet the Browns, starring Angela Basset and... More...
March 12, 2008:
Pics and trailer with Kate De Castillo 
More...
September 08, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review.
More...
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