Marisa Tomei Movie:

Editorial Review:
Marisa Tomei releases her inner spitfire in The Perez Family. Dottie Perez (Tomei) comes to the U.S. from Cuba, along with a mixed lot of criminals, lunatics, and political prisoners--including Juan Perez (Alfred Molina), who hopes to be reunited with his wife after 20 years. To work around the bureaucratic politics of the refugee camps, Dottie persuades Juan to pretend that they're married, and drafts a few other Perezes to create a family. Meanwhile, Juan's wife Carmella believes that Juan never arrived and is finally letting go of his memory, helped by the attentions of a Miami police detective (Chazz Palmintieri). Tomei's sexy passion sometimes spills over into silliness and the story unfolds erratically, but the examination of how love grows and how love fades is sincere and affecting. The actors are charismatic, the music's fantastic, and Tomei wears many skimpy outfits. Directed by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding). --Bret Fetzer

The Perez Family [Region 2] Reviews:
A Funny, Lovely, Sad, Romantic Comedy
2009-08-09 - This is one of my favorite movies! I have owned & watched it on VHS over 50 times, & when it became available on DVD, I quickly snatched it up. I'm sure the movie is enjoyable to all who give it a try, however, it is much more moving to me being spanish. From my perspective I can understand some of the struggles that the characters are going through. The music, the culture, it is all done very beautifully, despite not having many spanish actors. The ending to me is very sad & tragic & that's what makes the movie so memorable. I was very moved by the role that Alfred Molina played. He was AWESOME!! His struggle to want to reunite with his wife is very moving. Equally as moving was Angelica Houston's portrayal of Carmela. Her pain was very heartfelt. This movie is a must see. It grows on you even more as time goes by.

The Search for the Meaning of Family
2009-03-04 - This 1995 romantic comedy has gotten a second-life through the DVD release; it was a box-office failure for The Samuel Goldwyn Company, it made around [...] which was nowhere near covering the [...] production cost.

Based on a 1991 novel of the same name by author Christine Bell, the backdrop is the 1980 Mariel boatlift and the quest for a new life, a new beginning....but with a twist, which entails the last name, "Perez." Alfred Molina portrays a former Cuban aristocrat/political prisoner - Juan Raul Perez - who has just been freed from jail. He has one goal; making it to America to find his wife (portrayed by Anjelica Huston) and daughter. But on the same boat is Dottie Perez - played by Marisa Tomei - who is trying to make it back from the wrong side of the tracks.

And the hijinks kicks into gear when an official for U.S. Immigration believes they- Juan and Dottie - are married, which sets in motion a number of events where the "Perez Family" takes on a whole new meaning. With wit and a play on the politics of the time, director Mira Nair delivers a well-paced movie where romance takes a unique twist for those who truly value living life (with personal freedom) to the fullest each day.

I love this Movie
2007-08-08 - Marissa Tomei does a wonderful acting job in this movie that has such great music. I have the Music CD also.

disappointing (and I consider myself a great fan of the director).....
2007-04-03 - Mira Nair is, without a doubt (in my opinion), one of the finest contemporary filmmakers today. I am not just talking finest Indian filmmakers--I mean filmmaker in any language, context, culture or genre. Nair has a real knack for storytelling, through a glowing combination of luscious cinematography, compelling and believeable direction and great pacing. Unfortunately, if you see THE PEREZ FAMILY, this wonderful gift she has is not front and center. In fact, it's not even off to the side in the background. This might be (partly) due to the fact that Nair's attempt in telling the story of the Marielitos of the 1980s (boat people who crossed the waters from Cuba to the United States, in lieu of Castro's dictatorship) deals much with a culture with which she is unfamiliar. For me, this film and story seemed cartoonish (at best) and very unappealing.

Juan Perez (Alfred Molina) has just been released from prison and is arriving in Florida, after being locked up for twenty years, away from his beautiful wife, Carmela (Angelica Houston) and daughter, Teresa (Trini Alvarado). He is hoping that time hasn't dulled his wife's vigilance, as she awaits his return. On his journey to the United States, he encounters Dottie Perez (Marisa Tomei), who is filled with stars in her eyes and rumba in her hips. Together, they form a "family" of sorts, along with a little vagabond they encounter and a mute old man, who is very prone to climbing trees and (in the words of Juan) "looking for Cuba." My reaction to all this: "QUE?!!!" (translation: "What???!!") Okay, for starters, the main problem I had was with Marisa Tomei. I know they call what she does "acting" for a reason. Granted, British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins played Pablo Picasso (Spaniard), Peter Sellers played Inspector Clouseu (French), but Marisa Tomei (a beautiful actress of Italian descent) playing sultry Cubana, Dotty, was too much of a stretch for me. For starters, the accents were so fake! I have a Cuban aunt, in Florida, and believe you and me, they were overdoing it in this film. They sounded like they had had some bad novacaine shots at times, and it wasn't good. Also, the stereotypical depiction of Cubans was on the insulting side.

Skip this film and see the films that really put Mira Nair on the map, as a filmmaker. My picks for you are SALAAM BOMBAY!, MISSISSIPPI MASALA, MONSOON WEDDING and her latest, THE NAMESAKE.

Marisa Tomei is an absolute delight and the movie is decent too.
2006-06-06 - I remember seeing this a couple of years ago. I was drawn to this film by the cast list and in fairness I should have spotted that this film about Cubans had very few Cuban or even Latino actors in it. Anyway, aside from that the plot has historical context but I am not familiar enough with it to say if it was accurate or not, although I really don't think it matters very much. The film tries to fizzle with Latin spirit while at the same time delivering a rather convoluted romantic drama of sorts. It partly works but the writing isn't great and the film failed to really engage me as it just seemed a little forced as if it had been a good idea once but had had so many knobs added to it that it got a little daffy. After an hour it settles into the formulaic mould it was in all along, the historical context forgotten and the clich�s allowed to flow. If you can't see where this is going then I salute your ability to blindly accept what is given to you.

Talking of clich�s, the casting of so few Hispanic/Cuban/Latino actors was a mystery to me. Surely it would have been possible to get closer than Italian, which is what quite a few of the main characters appear to be. Tomei was the name that drew me to this film but in turns her role is good and bad. She has an important role and it was necessary for her to be feisty etc but she overdoes it a little bit - hammy up her Latin clich� at the start for all she is worth; she gets better though. Molina is another strange choice but he does well in his role and carries some dignity through the film - it's not his fault that the script gets silly in trying to keep him and Huston apart. Huston is OK but her subplot seems added on to make the ending more palatable to the audience (god forbid anyone should be hurt). For this same reason, Palminteri is wasted. Cruz is good and Chowdhry is quite funny, but why Gallo even bothered is beyond me - pre-fame I suppose. SNL's Cleghorne plays a cop and, in the spirit of ethnic clich�s, pushes the `oh-no-she-didn't' eye-rolling, `talk to the hand', neck moving black character for all she is worth - when she does it as a joke it is OK but here it just felt like laziness - especially for such a minor character.

Overall, any Hollywood film with Latinos/Cubans/Hispanics in it is going to force the rhythm for all it is worth and here is no different. It starts out boasting historical context and spice, falls into a rather convoluted series of plot twists that end up taking the film down a rom-com road to a solution that, although badly delivered, unthinkable and out-of-nowhere, was obvious from about 30 minutes into the film.