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Maid in Manhattan

Maid in Manhattan on DVD

Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes star in this romantic comedy that breaks the stereotypical Hollywood mold.

Okay, the story doesn’t really break the mold, but we were surprised and impressed that Fiennes’ character, politician Christopher Marshall, is a compassionate human being with dignity, standards of conduct and strength of character - and he’s plainly labeled as a Republican!

This is unusual: Hollywood usually portrays Republicans as being the Antichrist, with only Democrats being capable of human decency.

The truth, of course, is very different and it’s nice to see a “compassionate conservative” portrayed in a more accurate and positive light.

Anyway, Fiennes’ Marshall is mulling over a run for the US Senate, a position that seems to run in the family, so bad publicity is the last thing he needs. But he has enough strength of character not to take the always-looking-for-dirt media particularly seriously, and this puts him in good stead later in the movie.

Lopez is Marisa Ventura, a single mom and hotel maid who has her sights set on management . And she’s up for such a position when her path crosses Marshall ’s and both of their lives are changed.

They meet while Marisa, at the urging of a friend, is trying on an outfit that belongs to a flaky guest (Natasha Richardson), causing Marshall to think that she’s actually that hotel guest and not a "lowly maid." Marisa doesn’t do anything to dispel the mistaken identity as she, Marshall and her son (Tyler Posey) really hit it off and have a grand time.

Well, doesn’t that mistaken identity lead to problems! Marshall invites the real flake, Richardson, to a private lunch in his suite, and when she (who’s desperately trying to woo him anyway) shows up instead of Lopez, he’s thrown for a loop. Further complicating matters is the fact that Lopez is actually there anyway, assisting the butler (Bob Hoskins) in serving the lunch. She’s doing her best not to be noticed and, with Hoskins' help, manages to pull it off.

Not surprisingly, Marisa is unmasked and all hell breaks loose but, not surprisingly, all ends on a happy note when we find that Marshall really is a class act and doesn’t really care that she’s a maid - he loves her anyway.

A lightweight concept, but engagingly made and with very good performances all around. We don’t understand why Lopez is dumped on so much because in the movies of hers that we’ve seen she’s just fine. Fiennes is also very good as the Republican politician - but the scenes are stolen by Richardson when she’s on camera, and Tyler Posey, as Lopez’ precocious son, also deserves mention for his performance.

The DVD is very good. Columbia Tristar has wisely released the movie in both anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) and Pan&Scan on the same disc so consumers aren’t forced to choose between the two. We watched the widescreen version and found the picture quality to be very good, with a nice and sharp image and good color.

Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 and it’s also very good, though the surround is unremarkable.

Extras include trailers, previews, and Internet links.

Maid in Manhattan , from Columbia Tristar Home Video
105 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 TV compatible/ Pan&Scan (on the same disc), Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Stanley Tucci and Bob Hoskins
Produced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Deborah Schindler, Paul Schif
Written by Kevin Wade, Directed by Wayne Wang.

 

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Updated May 13, 2006