Maid in Manhattan (starring Jennifer Lopez)

'Maid in Manhattan' was one of the films that Amazon 'recommended' to me a while ago - so I put it on my wishlist, and was given it at Christmas. We finally had an evening to ourselves where a light 'chick-flick' film seemed like a good plan.

Marisa - Jennifer Lopez - works as a maid in an up-market hotel in Manhattan, in the USA. She is motivated, and reasonably popular, and sometimes thinks of applying for a management role, but never quite dares to apply.

Marisa is a single mother, and manages to combine her two roles well. She has a delightful son, Ty (Tyler Posey) who loves history and politics but becomes nervous when speaking. In the course of her cleaning work, while trying on some posh clothes (which she should not have done), Marisa happens to meet a senatorial candidate. Chris Marshall (Ralph Fiennes) mistakes her for a wealthy visitor...

Marisa throws caution to the winds, and agrees to go for a walk with him. Her friends and colleagues encourage her... and one date leads to another. It's a classic case of a small initial deceit spiralling out of control, becoming increasingly complex… until the truth, painfully, comes out.

I felt that this film took a while to get going, and was a little heavy, politically speaking, in places. However, there were some humorous moments towards the end and it was a pleasant lightly romantic story. Jennifer Lopez is excellent, as is Tyler Posey, and their scenes alone made it well worth watching. Above average for the genre, though it wasn't going to win any awards.

Rated 12 in the UK, PG-13 in the USA, as there were some instances of bad language, and a few sexual references. Nothing explicit - hence parental guidance recommended for those under about twelve or thirteen.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews