The Girl

The positive reviews here are fake, as are the upvotes on "found this helpful". This is a painfully awful watch, and I truly feel sorry for those likewise seeing it. This was described to me as mystery/thriller.... It is propaganda and activism. it has some good actors in it, I'll give it that, although Abby is not one of them and she is laughably bad. The whole writer&director thing is a hard thing to pull off, and David Riker fails here as many have. Then of course there is the whole bit about this morality tale being at all realistic - hint: it is not. If you must see this movie, watch the trailer before hand so at least you will know how much to self medicate.

I had no opinions or expectation on this film. It all started out with a crush on Abbie Cornish, but I ended up with a great deal of respect for her acting (and her Spanish) in this film. She showed a side of her that I had never seen before, but more importantly the film (and Abbie) made me aware of the culture on both sides of the Rio. The film starts with a sharp edge on the Texas side of the river, proceeds into a learning phase for me and Abbie/Ashley, and finally it softens and becomes a touching film on the Mexico side. Ashley is a much better person at the end of the film than the beginning - I hope that this is not considered a spoiler. I recommend this film wholeheartedly.

Watching this movie by myself, I heard my own voice saying "oh my god", is not that I am religious or so but that is the kind of emotion that this film gives. It makes you feel and think, how irrelevant is the color of your skin or the place where you were born; it gives us a reminder about the consequences of our everyday acts. And unless you are a privileged individual who never has experience the partial or total loss of someone you love, then this movie will mean nothing to you, otherwise you will feel angriness, sadness and despair because of the convincing and compelling performances and situation of this young mother and this little girl. Less manipulative than "la misma luna" "Under the Same Moon" (2007), don't misunderstand me, I loved that movie, but "The girl" is a more tragic experience, in a different level than "A Better Life" (2011) One line that stuck with me was: "Just drop her at the corner and don't look back" How hard can that be on real life? What would you do? "The Girl" is one of the reasons I watch movies from all over the world and this one is very close to home, my first language is Spanish. Certainly I did not have idea of whom Maritza Santiago Hernandez is but after this movie I can say that, she has a talent that deserves to be recognized and appreciated and Abbie Cornish gets redemption after the awful "Sucker Punch", she does an incredible job and she could have fool me into believing that she has been speaking Spanish her whole life! Cinephiles get ready for this one!

I loved this little film. The acting was good and the sentiment was sweet and tender without pushing an agenda. Ms. Cornish is an excellent actor and the little girl, "Rosa" was superb.

Ashley (Abbie Cornish) is a poor Texan mother who loses custody of her son after a drunk driving incident. She desperately wants her son back from foster care. Her father Tommy (Will Patton) lives on the Mexican side of Loredo. She discovers that he traffics illegals over the border. While over in Mexico, she tries to organize a crossing for $500 per person. However the group gets swept away. She's left with a little girl whose mother drowned. Her father's advise is to simply walk away.

Director/writer David Riker's story is a simplified idea culminating in what exactly Ashley will do with the girl. The movie depends mostly on Abbie Cornish's performance. She's very stone-faced in most of this movie. I see the frustrated 'stressed' woman that she's portraying. It's a very subtle performance although a few additional animated scenes would be great. The combative little girl is done well.