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From the Past

Films on the to-do list

  • Armageddon Time
  • Black Widow
  • Chimes at Midnight
  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer
  • Last Christmas
  • Remember Sunday
  • Shazam! 2
  • Thor: Love and Thunder
  • Spy Guys

Maid in Manhattan (2002)

Film review: Maid in Manhattan (2002), directed by Wayne Wang

Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez) is a single mother working as a maid in a top New York hotel. One day she’s coerced by a co-worker to try on a guest’s clothes, that she’s been asked to return to the store, and while still dressed like a million dollars she accidentally meets politician Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes), who believes she’s Caroline Lane, a wealthy socialite. She was, after all, in Caroline Lane’s hotel suite.

Marisa and Marshall take a shine to one another, but of course Marisa isn’t a wealthy socialite – she’s a hardworking but poor single mother from the Bronx. A hotel maid. Someone that Marshall wouldn’t look at twice normally.

How can she possibly come clean and still get the guy?

Also starring Natasha Richardson as the real Caroline Lane, Stanley Tucci as Jerry Siegel, Tyler Posey as Ty Ventura, Frances Conroy as Paula Burns, Chris Eigeman as John Bextrum, Marissa Matrone as Stephanie Kehoe, Priscilla Lopez as Veronica Ventura, and Bob Hoskins as Lionel Bloch.

In a way, Maid in Manhattan is a kind of Cinderella story. A maid is transformed into a princess by some new clothes, and the prince duly mistakes her for a princess. Granted, it’s slightly more complicated here, no glass slippers involved and no wicked stepsisters had their feet mauled in the process.

As romantic comedies go this film is definitely romantic. It’s also a more believable premise than something like The Lake House. I quite like J-Lo as an actress, and here she’s paired up with Ralph Fiennes, who’s about a gazillion miles away from He-who-must-not-be-named here.

If you want a film to cosy up to with a cup of tea and a warm blanket on a cold winter night, Maid in Manhattan really isn’t a bad choice. It’s cute, romantic, and has a happy ending. That’s good enough for me.

3.5 out of 5 dogs.

Traxy

An easily distracted and over-excited introvert who never learns to go to bed at a reasonable time. Enjoys traveling (when there's not a plague on), and taking photos of European architecture. Cares for cats, good coffee and Boardwalk Empire. A child of her time, she did media studies in school and still can't decide what she wants to be when she grows up.

2 thoughts on “Maid in Manhattan (2002)

  1. You are right Traxy..it’s good enough and worth watching if only for Stanley Tucci (love him), Ralph Fiennes or Bob Hoskins,

    1. Definitely. It doesn’t have to have to be award-winning to be enjoyable, if you take it for what it is: a nice romcom.

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