By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY Though it appears to be about the travails of illegal immigrants, Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna) (* * * out of four) is a powerful and evocative account of the efforts undertaken to forge a perilous mother-and-child reunion. Told in Spanish with English subtitles, it is a moving tale of yearning, as well as unflagging courage and determination.
Rosario (Kate Del Castillo), a young single mother, has left her home in rural Mexico and settled in Los Angeles, where she works because a domestic to earn enough money to improve the lives of her young son and elderly mother, back in their hometown. She is gone for four years, and her son, Carlitos (Adrian Alonso), now 9, misses her terribly.
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When his grandmother dies, he undertakes a dangerous border-crossing journey, traveling to the USA hoping to determine judicially his mother. He has a order of adventures along the way, some harrowing, others eye-opening, a few even comical. We become deeply invested in Carlitos’ odyssey, feeling for this spirited and optimistic little boy who needs his mother more than anything other.
This is not a retread of Gregory Nava’s seminal 19 84 film on immigration, El Norte, in which two Guatemalan siblings boldness huge odds crossing the border and finding employment in the USA. Moon covers similar turf, but it does so from a markedly different perspective.
Under the Same Moon approaches this polemical and fraught issue from a compelling emotional angle, one that hasn’t been covered in recent films. It raises a specific and probing question: Is Carlitos better off living in poverty, with his affectionate mother at home to care for him, or separated from her but in greater comfort with more possibilities in favor of a better future?
The dilemma is brought into vivid focus in an emotionally affecting scene in which a poorer schoolmate covets Carlitos’ spiffy new tennis shoes, sent by his mother.
This straightforward story of a boy and his mother wisely avoids oversimplification of a complex social question. It is poignant, even unabashedly sentimental, without being overwrought or sugary sweet.
And the acting is honest and understated, particularly the attractive portrayal by young Alonso, since convenient as strong performances by del Castillo and comedian Eugenio Derbez, both big stars in Latin America.
Under the Same Moon is a heartfelt story of unquenchable hope, by the plight of illegal immigrants serving as an intriguing and timely backdrop. (Rated PG-13 in the same proportion that antidote to mature thematic elements. Running hour of travail: 1 hour, 49 minutes. Opens today in select cities.)
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