Le choix de Sofia

I recently saw a screening of this movie and I must say I wasn't expecting very much. So many factors were going against it. One- being that I'm a guy who hates "chick flix" and two - I had heard of none of the actors, aside from SNL alum Nora Dunn. And three – did I mention that I'm a guy? At the risk of having my manhood challenged I must say that I loved this movie! What a pleasant surprise! Now that I'm a college grad ready for the real world, maybe I'm getting more sensitive. I don't recall the last time I had seen such an engaging story with such endearing characters. I loved this movie! Angie Cepeda, who plays Sofia, a Colombian trying to make it in America, is not only easy on the eyes, but has a natural acting ability that made me care about her within' two minutes. Ken Marino, who plays her love interest, was terrific. Both these actors are great finds. The rest of the cast was wonderful as well, especially Nora Dunn, who was cold as ice, brilliantly funny, and very human when I least expected it. The story blends comedy and drama perfectly in this profound story of love, family, and the powerful connection of mother and child. The movie was thoroughly a joy to watch, and it stayed with me days after I left the festival. Hollywood should take notice of this little film and learn how to generate true emotions from their audience. Max Burkholder, the little precocious foster kid, will steal your heart. Trust me.

After reading such a harsh review of Love For Rent in the Miami Herald, I just had to see what stirred up such emotion in their critic, especially since I read a terrific review in the LA Times.

Angie Cepeda, plays Sofia, a Colombian native struggling to keep alive her dream of becoming a lawyer in America (finally a Latina in a film not depicted as a cleaning lady). She is so driven in her goals that when she gets an A- minus in law class, she is disappointed. After getting robbed of everything and it looks as though there's no choice but to give up and go back to Columbia, she is offered money to carry a childless couple's baby. She becomes a surrogate mother. But this movie is about much more than that. It's about the powerful mother-child connection whether genetically bonded or not. This theme runs throughout the movie involving most of the characters and their own maternal connections.

The entire audience cheered at the end. Perhaps, they too, were curious at what brought so much fury to the Herald's critic.

Sophie is from a Latin American country and married a U.S. citizen to enter the country. She's in school studying law and wants become a lawyer. Her fake husband takes all of Sophie's things from her apartment while she is there asleep, as well as emptying their shared bank accounts and credit cards AND he cancels her automobile insurance. The following day he admits to the theft and threatens to report their illegal marriage to the INS and have her deported if she reports him to the police. That's kind of how it starts.

I read the other review here before I saw the movie and so expected a bad movie. I was happily surprised. I liked it. It's not the world's greatest movie and I liked it.

Sophie's cousin refers to her husband as "harmless," which is a good description of this movie. It's harmless - a simple piece of fluff yet mildly entertaining. You'll even smile at a few places in the movie. It's something you might see on a family programming TV station.

I really wanted to like this movie, really I did. It was showcased at a Latin film festival. I heard nothing but wonderful things about Angie Cepeda who plays the lead actress. In the movie premiere, Angie was seated behind me and the director was seated next to me. I had high hopes for this romantic comedy and then something happened!...they rolled the film.

This was one disappointing film. The plot was unbelievable. All of her possessions are stolen while she is sleeping. I don't know about you but even if I were a heavy sleeper, I'm going to hear noises from a robber stealing of all my worldly possessions right in front of my nose.

I will say that Angie Cepeda does have a great deal of potential. It is not her fault that the script stinks. I mean it really stinks. The jokes are so amateurish. Specifically, the jokes are forced and sometimes the script leans to vulgarity just for shock value. Angie is surrounded by characters with no depth. Some of them are just plain obnoxious. You wonder why a girl of Angie's class would even be associated with these morons. That's the point. In real life, Angie probably doesn't hang out with these kinds of characters.

There is a scene in the movie where a big group of people are having dinner. This has to be the worst scene in the movie. Kind of like scratching your nails on a chalkboard. They burst out singing the song "Don't You Want Me Baby" by Human League. Oh my, oh my, it is bad with a capital "B." Congratulations on messing with a classic 80s hit.

Angie's love interest is supposed to be a doctor. Where did they find this guy from Chippendales? He acts like a little school boy when he first meets Angie. He then has the nerve to call her on his cell phone the very same day and ask her if she has a crush on him. Again, we are reminded of the bad script.

I will say in defense of the movie that there were people in the audience who were laughing at these obnoxious jokes. If you like some of the situation comedy junk on television, you might find some of this film amusing. If you have good taste in movies, you probably won't find it charming.

The problem with a bad script is that after a while you don't care about the characters because they never have anything intelligent to say. That is the whole point of a romantic comedy - intelligent banter. I can only recommend this movie to my enemies.

Its strange because much about this movie is kind of cliché and at times it had a strange awkwardness or amateurish feeling.

And yet, Angie Cepada is so strikingly beautiful, and at the same time so natural in her acting, that the film is a continual pleasure to watch. When she smiles it has all the warmth of someone you know. you just can't help falling in love with her.

Also, the film is interspersed with scenes that are very well done and outside the usual genre of romantic comedy, incorporating an off-beat humor that is at once silly and quite smart, because it captures the awkwardness of social interaction so well.

Even though at times it has an intelligent indie quality to it, it is still ultimately a predictable sappy romantic comedy about motherhood and family. If you expect nothing more it may surprise you though...I couldn't tear myself away.