Mar 31, 2003 08:17 PM
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(Updated Mar 31, 2003 08:20 PM)
MAID IN MANHATTAN - Well at least the title did sound interesting. On top of that with a star like Jennifer Lopezin a deglamourised role. Sounded too good to be true. Fine the actor was a total unknown to me but who cares. With JLo in the movie, need one say more ?
Went for it and even forked out 300 bucks for a couple of tickets at Delhi's new glamour cine hall 3Cs. Seated ourselves in the plush seats and waited for the magic to happen.
First thing that struck me about the movie was its awesome soundtrack. Real hummable tunes which made you want to tap ur feet with them. And they really blended in with the scenic beauty of lower Manhattan along with the cracked walls and overflowing dumpsters ( dont ask me why but I find such natural scenes very pleasing to the eye). And JLo.
Now JLo deserves a paragraph to herself. She was awesome. Thats about the only word I could find for her. She really looked the part of a single mother all with her hair in a simple bun, wearing street clothes and natural wrinkles under her eyes. The son's pretty cute too. And JLo really did a fine job as a maid in a big Manhattan hotel. Another fine aspect of the movie was how they showed the innards of a busy and upstream hotel right from the security to the maids , to the cleaners. Usually we just walk into a hotel, park our asses in the room and forget everything else. Forget that the hotel is a living being in itself which breathes and nurtures the lives of so many. And these portions of the movie have been brought out very finely. Brought back to me fond memories of the book ''HOTEL'' by Arthur Hailey. Do read it if any of you get the chance but I wont go into a review of the book. Will write one some other day.
Getting back to the movie, the movie starts off with potraying the life of JLo as Marissa who is spanish and is working as a chambermaid in a busy Manhattan hotel while at the same time taking out time to attend her son's school functions etc. The perfect mother huh . At least she is not like our Nirupa Roy who is always ready with garam gajar ka halwa ( a sweet dish made from carrots in india).
Some points where the movie seemed a hogswash was the way everyone around JLo seems to be overflowing with the milk of human kindness. Right from her colleagues to her boss , security guard...absolutely everyone. Something doesn't strike right over there. Then enters into the movie and into the hotel the hero of the movie , who's a senator-to-be with a busy lifestyle and an evernagging P.A. and a huge dog to boot. Hero makes friends with JLo's son in an elevator and son takes senator to mom to ask permission for going out for a walk.
Coincidence or what, this ever kind friend of JLo forces her to ''try on'' a $5000 Dolce suit belonging to a guest of the Hotel and hey presto just as she walks out lookin like an FTV model, in walks son with senator who falls for her. Well I dont blame him coz if I were in his place I would have fallen on my knees and begged her to marry me . For that matter when she was in her maid clothes then also I would have done the same. Whoa wait up there. Lets stop going into my aspirations and get back to the movie. Where were we ? Ahh yes. So senator falls for JLo and insists on taking her out for the walk for which the nice nad kind friend of JLo insists that she needs. Nice walk with papparazzi chasing and all. Then JLo dissapears. Predicatble cindrella story of our bedtime fairy tales.
Thus begins the search for the mysterious woman who seems to have dissappeared along with her Dolce suit and son. Then date is arranged somehow and the true owner of the suit turns up in a goof of sorts dinner. Finally senator's P.A. tracks down JLo and asks her to come to ball night. Friends insist and absolutely the whole world contributes to make JLo look her ravishing best but in the end turns out to be lookin very ugly with a weird dress which seems to be defying all laws of gravity and staying up at her bosom. Hero and heroine go to bed and next day maid is caught in video by hotel security and very calmly and politely fired.
Jlo gets a job very very easily in another hotel inspite of her black record and senator comes to new hotel (coincidentally ?) for a press conference. Now as there are no pigeons or cupid or national calamities to make hero and heroine meet so JLo's son is used and he goes and asks the senator publicly if any one who made a mistake deserves a second chance or not. Senator obviously says yes they do. Kid drags senator to mom where they do kissy kissy and make up. Happy ending. Now please get out of the theatre before u died of boredome and get a crick in the jaws due to the continous yawning. Thank you . Tata .Bye bye.
ashvyn
