A Casa dos Bebês

Six women go to Mexico in order to adopt a child. Their ages range from early twenties to mid-forties and they all have very different ideas on how to bring up the child. John Sayles comedy-drama perhaps tries too hard to cover all the bases but he does it in such a warm and gentle way that he gets away with it. Occasionally it feels like your watching a play with each woman getting their big moment to shine with an extended piece of dialogue but the performances by all the women are excellent so you don't really mind too much. Though it could be Rita Moreno who almost steals the film as the head of the adoption centre which might get rewarded on oscar night. 'Casa de Los Babys' is an enjoyable touching film that may just make you broody! (8/10)

Once again John Sayles reveals that people and the land are one. That issues that face a region are inseparable from their culture. Or in this case, a clash of cultures. Sayles weaves a tale of co-dependence between rich and poor, love and need, power and abuse. He lets you feel and think but reminds you that life isn't comfortable. That choice is involved and that responsibility and compassion, or the lack of either, carries life-altering consequences.

Casa De Los Babys deals with so many issues... so many that John Sayles would need a 100 hours long movie to go deeply into all of them. And since that's not possible he manages to do it in +/-90 minutes.

Let's see: 4 north-american women (plus one from Ireland) stay in some hotel in México waiting to adopt a child. 5 different personalities, 5 different ways of facing life, 5 different existences. We have the reactionary-arrogant-and-proud-northamerican one (Marcia Gay H.), the rebel and nonconformist one (Lily Taylor), the catholic-alcoholic (Steenburgen), the misterious and reserved one (Hannah), and the dreamer (Susan Lynch). In 90 minutes we find out what do they expect from life, what are their fears, their desires; we find out about their personal dramas and their social status; what they've been through (Sayles manages to do that with only a dialogue line in many of the cases) and so... Also we have the fact that those women from the first world, have come to a third world country in order to adopt a child. With 4 or 5 sequences Sayles perfectly explains WHY México is a country where people comes to adopt children to, and why thousands of mexican women have to get rid of their babys. We see children of the street (7 or 8 years old homeless kids robbing and taking drugs),young girls getting pregnant and being forced to give their babys away (in a Catholic country just like México, abortion ain't an option), men that cannot find a job, and the corruption that hides in third world countries' bureaucracy. Well, so many things to thing about. We need more movies just like this one. Social cinema (Ken Loach, Frears, León de Aranoa) is frowned upon by some people, maybe because it makes them fell guilty.

And what to say about the cast? The five starring actresses may not be the most handsome, nor the most famous, may not have the best bodies... But let me tell you something: this is the best female cast in years. If the Oscar's were for real they should give a goddamn golden little naked man to each and every one of the women that appear in Casa De Los Babys. Not only to the anglo-saxon ones, but also to the mexican cast. If you don't care about third world's penuries, nor about people's personal dramas, you should go and watch Casa De Los Babys just to know what it means to be an ACTRESS.

My rate: 8/10

CASA DE LOS BABYS (2003) **** Daryl Hannah, Marcia Gay Harden, mary Steenburgen, Lili Taylor, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Susan Lynch, Rita Moreno, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Bruno Bichir, Angelina Pelaez, Vanessa Martinez, Juan Carlos Vives, Miguel Rodarte, David Hevia, Martha Higareda, Tony Marcin, Lourdes Echevarria, Blanca Loaria, Guillermo Ivan Duenas. John Sayles continues to be one of Americas' best and original independent filmmakers in this warm, funny and at times poignant look at the adoption process at a South American clinic attended by six disparate women - all eager and emotionally at odds - awaiting their turn to return home with their new infant. Sayles - who, as always, wrote, directed & edited - skillfully weaves a complicated tapestry of social, political and humane themes concurrent and enables his fine crop of acting talent each a moment to shine (in particular Hannah, Lynch and Martinez) of the heartbreaking stories they each share in the one ultimate goal: happiness. One of the year's best films.

I was completely disappointed. The movie seemed contrived and forced. There were too many back stories combined into one, and I found it difficult to concentrate on the story at hand. The ending was far too abrupt. I normally like all of these actresses, but this was not a good movie to show them as a solid cast. I would have liked to see each character fleshed out a bit more.

I also agree that it was a completely one-sided view of international adoption. The whole time watching, I had trouble really understanding most of what was going and why characters were popping in and out of the story.