Maid In Manhattan Details

2002

Rated:
60
from 17,629 members

Starring	Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Stanley Tucci
Director	Wayne Wang
Genres	Comedy, Romance

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Maid In Manhattan

Director Wayne Wang (THE JOY LUCK CLUB, SMOKE) updates the familiar Cinderella story in this charming romantic comedy. Jennifer Lopez stars as Marissa Ventura, a beautiful young woman who divides her time between her precocious son Ty (Tyler Posey) and her housekeeping duties at The Beresford, an upscale Manhattan hotel. When the boyish and affluent politician Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes) shares an amusing elevator ride with Ty, he subsequently meets Marissa. As luck would have it, Marissa is mischievously sporting an exotic Dolce & Gabbana gown belonging to another Beresford tenant, and is mistaken by Christopher as a guest of the hotel. The two undeniably hit it off, but Marissa is unable to reveal her working-class secret, afraid of losing her job. Christopher is completely smitten and makes numerous attempts to locate her, despite the comedic fact she is often right under his nose. While the film is always lighthearted and fun, it does not shy away from foregrounding race and class issues, devoting much screen time to Marissa's coworkers and their struggles to survive. As a rags-to-riches fairy tale, MAID IN MANHATTAN hits all the right notes.

Starring	Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Stanley Tucci, Tyler Garcia Posey, Bob Hoskins
Director	Wayne Wang
Studio	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time	DVD: 1 hr 41 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 44 mins
Certificate
Collections	100 Rom-Coms
Genres	Comedy, Romance
Language	DVD: English Blu-ray: English
Subtitles	Blu-ray: Croatian, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Romanian, Slovene, Estonian, Greek, Hindi, Czech, Hungarian, Bulgarian, English, Arabic, Turkish, Polish
Released	DVD: 15 Sep 2003 Blu-ray: 08 Sep 2008 Production year: 2002
Format	DVD

Critics' reviews (3) of Maid In Manhattan
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Smoke director Wayne Wang swaps originality and sophistication for feel-good froth in this undemanding and predictable Cinderella story. Based on a story by John Hughes (writing as Edmond Dantes) — with more than a passing nod to Pretty Woman — this sugary fairy tale is as simplistic as it is traditional. Ralph Fiennes piles on the charm as a would-be senatorial candidate who falls for Manhattan hotel maid and single parent Jennifer Lopez in the mistaken belief she's a socialite. Comic mishaps and schmaltzy soul-searching ensue, as Lopez tries to hide her humble roots and Fiennes doggedly pursues the opportunity for true love. It's join-the-dots entertainment at its most calculating — with Lopez and Fiennes unconvincing in their respective roles — but there's still enough warmth and high Hollywood gloss to give it wide appeal.
- Radio Times
- Posted 29 Jan 2006
Talented individuals labour over the contrivances in this lightweight romance, and if the result's fluff, at least it's... read more on Time Out
- Time Out
- Posted 04 Nov 2008
Most helpful member's review of Maid In Manhattan
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful

Where was the chemistry?

I liked this film. It was comfortable, a little predictable maybe but in theory good viewing for all of that. The only dischord seemed to be that the two main charachers ( Lopez and Fiennes ) just didn't create an ounce of sexual chemistry.

This film looked good on paper, two actors that are arguable very good at their craft, but they just didn't click on film.

I have seen both of these actors in other films (with different co-stars) and you could feel the heat coming off the TV or pulsing through an audience in a cinema.

I am afraid that with light weight films in the RomCom genre casting is EVERYTHING, and I just don't feel that they got it quite right.

Still a good film to while away an evening, but definately did not fulfill it's potential!!!!!
- - A customer from Northamptonshire
  - Posted 28 Feb 2005 15:23
Most recent members' review of Maid In Manhattan
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3 out of 4 people found this review helpful

Oh Ralph, what have you done?

A truly soppy, feel-good movie that has not the slightest affiliation with reality. For those who love romance, slushy soundtracks and beautiful dresses then you’re onto a winner. If you expect anything more then you’ll cringe for a good hour and a half.

J. Lo is obviously still trying to stake her claim on the Bronx. The righteous rantings of her character, Marissa, have little effect on our sympathies when all you can think of is the line ‘I’m just Jenny from the block’ – whatever princess.

Her son Tai is far too sincere and wholesome to even be funny, and Fiennes has certainly put a very large nail in his coffin playing the dog-loving, so-much-love-to-give, ‘I’m listening’ politician. We don’t think so...

All in all this film is tooth-rottingly sweet, saved only by a vaguely amusing plot that just might capture your attention long enough to reach the 'Notting Hill' style ending.
- - EmmaR from London
  - Posted 12 May 2004 13:53
News and features
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Richardson dies after horror ski crash
- 19 Mar 2009
Actress Natasha Richardson has died after suffering serious head injuries in a skiing accident. She was 45. The Maid in Manhattan star, who was married to actor Liam Neeson, was taken to hospital in Montreal, Canada after the incident on the slopes of Mont Tremblant on Monday (16Mar09). Schindler's List star Neeson rushed to her bedside at the Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal as doctors battled to save her. He flew her to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York on Tuesday (17Mar09), where he was... Read more
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