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“Maid in Manhattan” is a surprisingly well-crafted tale of a modern Cinderella.
It tells the story of Marisa, a single mother played by Jennifer Lopez, who works as a maid in a fancy hotel.
Like Cinderella and her prince, the two characters in the film fall in love almost instantly. However, instead of their eyes meeting across a crowded ballroom, Marisa and Chris first meet when he begins to use the bathroom in a room she is cleaning. Instead of a beautiful symphony, the noise that marked their meeting was the sound of his fly zipping.
Their paths cross for a second time while Chris, an assemblyman running for the Senate, walks in on Marisa while she is trying on the clothes of a wealthy guest. Not recognizing her as the maid he had just seen, he gallantly asks her and her son, Ty, to go for a walk.
The plot that follows is predictable. The two fall in love and eventually have a magical night of dancing, leading to the inevitable bedroom scene while outside it pours romantic rain. Eventually, this Cinderella’s clock strikes midnight and she must turn back into the pumpkin she truly is. She loses her job and her man but her spirit stays intact. Of course, their paths eventually cross again, facilitated by her son. Chris greets Marisa with a kiss. The proverbial glass slipper fits and they all live happily ever after.
I admit that my reasoning behind going to this movie was to make fun of J-Lo trying to act. I was pleasantly surprised. While her attempts at being maternal were rather weak, for the most part, she does a decent job as a gutsy, streetwise maid.
Despite the positive effects of a few acting lessons, I could not keep from singing “Jenny from the Block” in my head throughout the entire movie. This could be because she often sports hip-hugging pants and, at one point, this supposedly poor woman whips out a high-tech cell phone. I guess even a maid needs a little bling bling.
The film was proclaimed to be the next “Pretty Woman.” Unless someone is willing to make the connection between a maid with a child and a prostitute with fishnets, there is no comparison. While this movie can be called cute, it possesses nothing of the charm and timeless humor that will make girls forever tell their daughters how this is the best movie ever made, as is often the case with “Pretty Woman.”
Another discrepancy between the two movies is that “Maid in Manhattan” rarely gives any reason to laugh out loud. It possesses a single humorous one-liner, which it had already given away in the previews. This occurs when Marisa nearly sits on a magazine featuring a picture of Chris.
“Oh Lord, I almost sat on your face,” she said.
As I had been hoping for something funny to happen for what seemed like forever, that comment made me laugh for a good five minutes.
Although the film is certainly not an Academy Award winner, it is perfect for a day when your faith in life, love and the good of people needs some refreshing. On my Junior Mint Scale of five, I give “Maid in Manhattan” a three.
