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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 920
Released: June 17, 2008 |
| Our Price: $14.95 |
| Used Price: $8.35 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Even across thousands of miles the special bond between a mother and son can never be broken. It gives hope to Carlitos a scrappy nine-year-old boy whose mother Rosario has gone to America to build a better life for both of them. While Rosario struggles for a brighter future fate forces Carlitos hand and he embarks on an extraordinary journey to find her. Critics and audiences alike have praised this inspirational and heartwarming tale of a mother s devotion a son s courage and a love that knows no borders.System Requirements:Running Time: 110 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: LATIN/DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 024543526902 Manufacturer No: 2252690
Description of Under the Same Moon:
Under the Same Moon puts a human face--several very appealing faces--on the dilemma of Mexican "illegals" living and working clandestinely in the United States and the loved ones back home they're supporting. Rosario, a young single parent, left her village four years ago and jumped the border to find work in Los Angeles; ever since, she and son Carlitos, now nine, haven't seen each other, but she faithfully calls him from the same street-corner pay phone every Sunday morning. When Rosario's mother--the boy's guardian--dies in her sleep, Carlitos taps into an impressive reservoir of street smarts and contrives his own border crossing. The border is just the first of many obstacles to a mother-and-child reunion--not least the fact that the only address the boy has for Rosario is a mental image of the corner she always phones from.
It's easy to take cheap shots at Patricia Riggen's feature-directing debut for tugging at the heartstrings, and certainly Under the Same Moon aspires to nothing like the political and psychological complexity of The Visitor, another film involving illegal immigrants that was released around the same time. But that misses the point, the nature of the mission, and the effectiveness with which Riggen carries it out. Carlitos encounters an almost Dickensian gallery of rogues and menaces, but that's allegorically appropriate for a crossover film (pun unavoidable) aimed at the general U.S. market as well as the Latino circuit. Nor is the movie guilty (as some have charged) of flogging an Anglo-bad/Latino-good poetics; there's opportunism as well as love among Carlitos's neighbors back home, and although Rosario is exploited and cheated by one of the two L.A. households she serves as a maid, the other family appears fond, even solicitous of her.
Riggen's casting is on the money: Kate del Castillo makes a heartbreakingly lovely Rosario, and Adrián Alonso, in addition to giving a gutsy performance as Carlitos, has a marvelous old-man's face the camera never tires of. Veteran actress María Rojo creates a shrewd portrait of a woman who arranges border crossings and observes her own brand of ethics while doing so, and Eugenio Derbez brings raffish charm to a crowd-pleasing role, a guest worker who, though himself two leaps ahead of "La Migra," becomes Carlitos's reluctant protector. America Ferrara (yes, "Ugly Betty") contributes an unflattering cameo as a U.S. college student of Hispanic descent who doesn't understand Spanish. --Richard T. Jameson
Under the Same Moon Reviews:
Under The Same Moon 
2008-10-03 - A very good movie that is a reality of what is really happening with those who cross the border to earn a better living. Some families have to struggle to live for long periods of time without seeing their loved ones and some never see them again.
This is an outstanding movie.
2008-09-26 - Many people castigate illegal aliens as death to the American economy. This movie lets the viewer walk in the illegals' shoes for a few weeks. What a tear jerker this movie is, but I loved it dearly!
great movie!
2008-09-23 - I love this film
and the price was very attractive compared to other on line stores!
A Beautiful Story
2008-09-09 - And to think, I almost missed this movie... that would have been a serious loss on my part. Under the Same Moon almost flew under my radar after a read a few critical reviews of it that stressed the director's inexperience and reliance on clichés... and yes it does get a little heavy handed with the emotions. But it has a very compelling story, whether you believe in open borders or 50 foot high concrete walls.
Carlito's contacts with his mother have been limited for the last four years to a once a week phone call to the local pay phone. She's working in Los Angeles (illegally) and trying to save enough money for an immigration attorney to legalize her status and bring Carlito to live with her. In the meantime, he lives with his grandmother and scratches for coins by selling chewing gum and doing odd jobs. The film establishes him as a very resourceful kid early on, which lends a degree of believability to later developments.
When his grandmother dies, Carlito enlists the help of two well-meaning (but decidedly amateur) people smugglers (one of whom played with understated perfection by America Ferrara of Ugly Betty fame). As you might guess, things go wrong and Carlitos is soon fending for himself to travel from Texas to LA.
Under the Same Moon could have been just a hokey piece of immigration propaganda, but it focuses more on a story of love held by mother and son. And if you're lucky enough to watch it, you just might have your understanding expanded with regard to the erstwhile law breakers that constitute much of our illegal immigrant population. Like a 9 year old boy determined to reunite with his mother, it's a complex scenario that won't easily be solved.
One final note, we watched this Spanish language movie with our 11 year old granddaughter (the first time she's ever watched a subtitled film). Not only did enjoy it (and she's a very picky viewer), once it was over she was very visibly moved with the emotion of it. So rate this as excellent by both grandparent AND grandchild standards!
Expand your movie watching 
2008-09-02 - This little movie is so heart warming, sad, happy that you get to view the tough life of a single mother separated from her young son through different set of emotional lens. Well done (as little indy movies done on the cheap go) real and authentic. I don't usually have the patience to sit through a whole sub-titled movie. But this one was not so "hurry up and read the caption" and simple enough to "get it". I really got into it from the start. The child actor is very good in this. Enjoy it.
