No Frills (Maid In Manhattan (DVD))

Member Name: Epiphany

Product:	Maid In Manhattan (DVD)
Date:	07/12/05 (164 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See review

Disadvantages: None

OK. So I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew with this review, but I’m game, so let’s see what you make of it.

The thing is, for some reason this movie touches me more deeply than many films do. It’s because I’m so touched, so involved and so absorbed by the story that I’m not sure I can write a good review about it. I think I saw it first on a plane to (or perhaps from) Australia. I didn’t expect to like it, but I enjoyed it so much I bought the DVD.

Maid in Manhattan is the story of a maid, Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez), who meets a candidate for the Senate, Christopher Marshall (Ralf Fiennes). He doesn’t know she’s a maid, they hit it off but inevitably he finds out the truth and before you know it, her world starts tumbling down.

It’s a love story, with some very touching moments but also with a healthy helping of humour thrown in for good measure. It’s fast paced, but perhaps a little predictable in places. It’s a Cinderella story, only Cinders knows she’s going places that her mother won’t even dare to dream of. It’s a story of class divides and self-respect.

The more I see of Jennifer Lopez in movie roles, the more I like her. I really enjoyed her performance in this movie and I found her portrayal of a maid, a mother and someone who has been brought up to believe she is a member of the ‘under-class’ highly believable. I loved the grit and determination she also showed in her character and her overall presence in the movie.

Ralph Fiennes is also captivating. I’m not sure he made a very believable Senate candidate, although I guess they do have a tendency to get themselves into trouble! He certainly played the role of a man captivated by a beautiful woman really well.

I’m not going to mention all the cast and characters, but there are two remaining members of cast that I want to mention especially.

The first is Bob Hoskins who plays the role of Lionel Bloch, a butler at the Berrisford Hotel (he might even be the head butler). He was totally believable and deadpan. Extremely efficient but very perceptive, I also thoroughly enjoyed the scenes he was in.

The final cast member I want to mention is Tyler Garcia Posey who plays Marisa’s 10-year-old son, Ty Ventura. The lad is so cute and I thought his performances were also excellent.

What more can I say? I love the story, the cast is excellent and the performances are wonderful. There is a cool sound track to back the film up and I find the cinematography truly inspiring. The filming is almost artistic in places and I love the different views of New York that are presented.

~~ DVD Extras ~~

- Trailers -

I must admit, I’m actually a bit of a fan of trailers. I like going to the cinema and seeing the forthcoming features, and I tend not to skip through the trailers on videos. The emergence of the DVD has put an end to that mostly, but on this DVD there are a few trailers for movies other than Maid in Manhatten.

Maid in Manhatten – This trailer is actually pretty good. It gives you a good overview of the story without giving too much away and it has a very soft, romantic feel about it which captures the feel of the overall movie.

Anger Management – This trailer is OK, but I’m not a huge fan of Adam Sandler or Jack Nicholson. It looks amusing, maybe even funny, but not a movie I plan to see any time soon.

Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle – This trailer is GREAT. It gives you a real feel for the action and comedy of the movie. It also has plenty of shots of the girls all looking fabulous, which has got to get the attention of the guys.

Daddy Day Care: Erm… no. Eddie Murphy and a whole bunch of kids? Really not my bag. It might turn out to be really funny, it may even be a masterpiece, but based on this trailer, I won’t be seeing it.

The one downside about the inclusion of these trailers seems to be that the makers of the DVD have decided not to put any other features on it. You can have subtitles in various languages, and have the film played in Spanish, English or French but there is nothing else. No directors commentary (which in my opinion is a good thing), no the-making-of-behind-the-scenes, no biographies… nothing.

So I guess that marks the end of my review!

~~ The Dull Stuff... ~~

¤ Release Date: September 15, 2003
¤ Classification: PG
¤ Director: Wayne Wang
¤ Aspect Ratio: 2.40 Wide Screen
¤ Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
¤ Disc Format: DVD 9
¤ Region 2 encoding
¤ PAL, Widescreen

This DVD is currently available from Amazon for £4.97 or from Amazon Marketplace for around £1.

Summary: One to watch