The film concerns a mother and her son who have been living apart for four years. Rosario (Kate del Castillo of the recent Trade ) chose to illegally cross the border so that she could make enough money to support her nine-year-old son Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) and her ailing mother. She's also trying to save enough money to get a lawyer so she can become a legal U.S. citizen and bring her son to Los Angeles. But Carlitos is starting to resent his mother's absence. His only contact with her is a weekly Sunday morning phone call. When his grandmother dies, he seizes the opportunity to cross the border on his own in search of his mother.
Rosario (Kate del Castillo) makes her weekly phone call to her son in Under the Same Moon (Fox Searchlight)
Prepare to have your heartstrings tugged as feisty little Carlitos heads off from the Tex-Mex border on a journey to Los Angeles. As Carlitos take his physical journey, his mother makes a more emotional one as she tries to decide if what she's doing is best for her family. The problem with Under the Same Moon lies mostly in its script by Ligiah Villalobos. Every possible obstacle gets thrown in Carlitos' path then every time the film makes his progress seem impossible it has to pull a major contrivance out of its hat to rescue him. I don't want to give away the plot (although I'm sure most people can figure out how this "heart-warmer" ends) but I will point out just a few of the plot's annoyances that occur early on in the film. The brother and sister that Carlitos hires to smuggle him across the border are so stupid that they drive a car with expired tags and more than $100 in unpaid parking tickets (oddly the border guards don't notice the expired tags until they run a computer check on the car). So the car, with Carlitos hidden under the seat, gets impounded. When Carlitos sneaks out of the car, he drops all his money. Now the road trip becomes excessively complicated. Then the first person Carlitos enlists to help him is a drug addict who tries to sell him to some pimp but just at the moment of transaction a woman happens by to rescue Carlitos. Later there's a miraculous stop in Tucson where Carlitos' estranged father just happens to live and where the diner just happens to be hiring help so Carlitos (at the tender age of nine) can get work as well as get food and a place to stay. The film repeatedly places Carlitos in jeopardy and then has to work hard to get him out. &
A certain amount of difficulty is expected in a road picture like this that involves issues of immigration. Maybe smaller ones would have better suited to this particular drama since it purports that its main point is not a political one but rather a family drama. The film, however, makes a vey conscientious attempt to hit so many hot button issues as Carlitos travels that it loses his personal drama along the way. As the film cross cuts between Rosario and Carlitos, it raises issues about the coyotes who smuggle people across the border; U.S. lawyers who scam illegal immigrants; trafficking in children in the sex market; the mistreatment of illegals by employers who know they can abuse their undocumented employees; and that's on top of family issues of single parenting and a mother and son maintaining a long distance relationship. Whew! That's a lot to try and cover. All of these issues are valid ones to deal with but to try and pack them all into one story requires a lot of manipulation and then only superficial treatment of each.
Carlitos picks up an unlikely friend on teh road in Under the Same Moon (Fox Searchlight)
A more streamlined and simpler plot would have allowed the film to showcase its strengths more effectively, and those strengths are the lead performances. Kate Del Castillo conveys the conflict of a woman who wants to do what's best but isn't sure what that is. Alonso is endearing as Carlitos but he never crosses over to cloying cuteness. He always keeps a bit of an edge to his performance. The film's best scenes are actually the ones Alonso shares with Eugenio Derbez, who plays Enrique, Carlitos' reluctant chaperone on the last part of his journey. Derbez, a popular Mexican TV star-writer-producer, injects a little surliness into the proceedings. His initial resistance to Carlitos' charm make for some enjoyable scenes. But you just know that his heart will melt as well. I also have to mention the wonderful band Los Tigres del Norte that appear to give little Carlitos a lift - offering both a ride a spiritual boast. The band also provides much of the lively soundtrack including a biting satirical song about Superman being an illegal alien. In some ways, they have a more sly and successful approach to the issues of immigration than screenwriter Villalobos.
Director Patricia Riggen coaxes lovely performances from her cast. But she does little to help overcome the weaknesses of the script. Maybe a little magic realism could have done the trick smoothing over the coincidences and improbabilities of the final reel with a little surreal panache. But without magic realism, the audience is asked to take a few big leaps of faith to buy into what happens in the film. What's frustrating is that with just a little tweaking, the script could have been made far more credible. &
Under the Same Moon (rated PG-13 for some mature thematic elements) is a well intentioned and often touching film. Riggen avoids overt politics as she tries to present a personal perspective on immigration. Embracing this film will depend on whether its charms triumph over its contrivances. I left impressed by the performances but disappointed by the film as a whole. It's one of those films that tackles a hot, current issue in a sincere and heartfelt manner but without a lot of artistry or innovation. It serves a need and a purpose at the moment but I hope that another film can come along and address these issues more effectively.
Companion viewing: El Norte, Born in East L.A., Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, A Day Without Mexicans, Bread and Roses
