Jurgen and I keep a list called World Films We Love to Hate. It includes such beloved titles as Amelie, Whale Rider, and Billy Elliot, charming films that tug on the audiences' heartstrings - and leave us cold.
Patrica Riggen's Under The Same Moon fits right into this category: a sentimental fairytale about a Mexican boy named Carlitos (Adrian Alonso), a spunky tyke who, after his grandmother's death, crosses the border into the U.S to find his beautiful mother (Kate del Castillo).
Carlitos faces many obstacles. First he's smuggled in an SUV by Ugly Betty's America Ferrara, a college student with debts to pay. He finds himself promptly deserted when her car is impounded after crossing the border. At a bus stop in Texas he nearly gets sold into child slavery to a dubious character, but he is rescued by a good woman who takes care of illegals.
Before long, the boy almost gets busted again, this time picking tomatoes with a band of illegals on their way to California, but no fear, because Carlitos is rescued again, this time by surly immigrant Enrique (Eugenio Debrez) who turns out to have a heart of gold. Meanwhile, Rosario is ignorant of Carlito's adventure; earnest and highly motivated, the hard working young woman has struggles of her own.
Riggen attempts to show the enormous hardship illegals immigrants face, but the actual storytelling is so filled with sunshine and resilient good cheer that true pathos of the situation never rings true.
Says who? Me. Much to my surprise, the audience at the screening I attended wiped satisfied tears from their eyes as the credits rolled.
