fertilecelluloid Review of Under the Same Moon

Under the Same Moon (2007)

Moving immigrant drama errs on the side of fantasy

[7/10 · 14 April 2008]

Patricia Riggen's "Under The Same Moon" feels like a fairy tale because it eschews reality in favor of neat drama. A Mexican boy slips out of Mexico to be with his mother in Los Angeles; the film depicts his adventures on the lam. The boy, played by Eugenio Derbez, is natural and believable, never pushing his performance too hard. Kate del Castillo, who plays the boy's mother, draws us into her plight with subtle focus. The script feels a little too calculated at times and glosses over a sequence involving a border crossing. It is a strong character piece that explores the the price of sacrificing one thing for another. Coincidence plays a major role in the unfolding of the drama, but it never becomes too cloying. Aspects of the journey that involve the impoundment of a vehicle, the employment of a minor (!), and a brutal raid on an illegal workplace, come across more as fanciful than real. Still, this is an interesting angle on the immigrant experience.