Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

jessicacoco2005 The film is well-acted and well-directed. In fact, I may have given this film a 3 star rating perhaps, if it weren't for the fact the film tries to extol itself as a morality piece, when what it really is is a US propaganda film depicting the US as a place where the streets are lined with gold if you work hard & put your mind to it. As any American knows, jobs are not easy to get, rent & utilities are unaffordable for the middle-class, let alone those working below minimum wage and completely unable to speak the language.The film centers on a young women who gets pregnant from casual sex. Rather than marry the father, because he is poor, she decided to earn money by becoming a cocaine mule. Her redemption is staying in the US to forge a new life for her and her child. The film pretends to extol morality by its very title, whereas its main premise is wholly immoral. It's not moral to have casual sex, get pregnant, refuse to marry the child's father just because he's poor, swallow condoms full of cocaine that can burst and kill you & your unborn child at any moment, deny your child the right to be with its rightful father and grandparents. The film pretends this is all OK, as long as the female character stays in this country so her child could have a better life, which in reality as a child of an illegal parent is rarely true. Is this film a Hollywood fairytale; a propaganda film meant to show the US as this thriving country where everyone can make it, even illegal aliens who have no relatives to help them; or is this film used to encourage illegal migration to this country by promising immigrants the streets are lined with gold? All I know is I'm a citizen and my pockets aren't lined with gold.

raidatlanta I really feel like I "should" like this movie, and to be honest, i probably gave it a better grade then the film itself deserves due to the important topic that it handles, and about which relatively few movies (that aren't documentaries) handle. Yet what a horribly boring movie. The main mistake that this movie made is very typical for "serious" topic movies - making it excruciatingly slow. If you are one of those people who enjoy long, drawn out shots, with no other purpose than to show the characters reaction to something, you might like this film. yet, even at that, i found most long short not to hold that much emotion, acting, etc. secondly as a "typical" mistake, I would say "layering too much drama". You know those movies in which you have one dramatic setting, but since that doesn't seem like enough, they add a very dramatic sub-plot to the character, and then a very dramatic back-story, and then a very dramatic subplot to the subplot? Well, this might just be my heartless opinion, but when something is super over-dramatic, it loses all credibility , authenticity, and interest. Then again, I'm not one to enjoy telenovelas. I could go on, but those are the main points, and I find them to be two main factors that might effect someone linking or disliking it. hope it helps!

pcrprimer About an hour into the movie, it really struck me as to how somber of a tone the movie had. The movie starts with the bleak surroundings of rural Colombia as we are introduced to Maria, who yearns for something greater than an indifferent boyfriend, lousy job, and over-bearing family. Once she signs up to become a mule, it doesn't become any easier for her. The scene at the airport was tense, and truly leaves the viewer at the edge of their seat. Once they show New York, things are just as grim. The main actress is who truly carries this movie. She really portrays the frustrations, hopes and strength of teenager in a different country who hopes to achieve something and find her place in the world.

mckenna foulger Maria, a girl who grew up too fast. "Maria Full of Grace" is a small budget movie directed by Joshua Marston. It was filmed in Spanish but has been translated to many different languages. After watching this movie we have been informed about a huge problem that has been happening not only in Colombia but in most Latin America countries; the drug trafficking. It has been nominated for various Oscars and even won an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. This movie is about a seventeen year old girl named Maria that lives in a small village in Colombia. She is part of the low class that has an annual salary of $1,700. Maria lives with three generations; sister, sister's daughter, mother and grandmother. When she loses her job she has to take extreme measures to keep providing for her family. With her new job she travels to from her small village to the huge city of Queens in New York. Maria Alvarez, the main character, is played by Catalina Sandino Mora. She is portrayed as a sympathetic 17 year old girl that works in a flower factory. The nice, sympathetic girl is contradicted when she gets herself into all the dangers of being a drug trafficker. Catalina portrays her character in a very professional way. On the other hand, Maria's best friend, Blanca who is played by Yenny Paola Vega, did not do as good of a job. She did not show as many emotions and made the audience feel like her character was a fed up rich girl, when she was actually under the same circumstances as Maria. Guilid Lopez is also another actress who really understood her character, Lucia Díaz. Lucia made the audience feel the emotions that she was feeling and it affected how they felt towards other characters. Overall the characters were very well chosen by the director and really do a great job portraying their characters. This Colombian movie had its ups and downs. First of all the story line was very well thought out. It is said that the director, Joshua Marston, traveled to New York and to Columbia to really get a feel of what it's like in those very distinct places and to write his story line. He studied the event regarding drug trafficking in both countries which involved guerrillas, military forces, and drug traffickers. With this specific storyboard chosen, people can relate and find it interesting. Another good aspect of this movie is the great photography. For example, the bus scene with Luci and Maria. They filmed without a tripod so the camera moves with the movements of the bus. This shows the conflict that these two young women are going through. Another scene with superb photography is the scene when Maria gets back from Bogota. The more the fight increases the closer the camera gets to the actresses faces creating a more intense environment. One aspect of the movie that wasn't that impressing was the plane scene. First of all the way it was filmed was not that impressive. It did not make the audience feel the tension between the characters. From a critic's point of view, they could have included more close-ups of the facial expressions of the girls when they looked glanced back at each other or used a more creative angle when Maria was in the plane bathroom. In this specific movie, the director is trying to portray 2 specific themes. Being a drug mule or drug transporter is probably the biggest theme and is portrayed all throughout the movie. The movie shows how being a drug mule can help and destroy people's lives. First of all this job provides Maria with the money she needs to support her family but it's not an easy job. Maria has to put not only her life, but her unborn daughter's life on the edge. The other theme that strongly influences this movie is growing up. From the beginning of the book until the end, Maria makes her way from childhood to adulthood. In the beginning she is a typical teenager with typical teenage problems but because of her social class she is pressured into adult scenarios. The circumstances that she finds herself in (drugs, illegal actions, burglars) forces her to make adult-like decisions. This movie is definitely for a specific target audience. It is rated R for a reason. The content is this movie is definitely not good for anybody under the age of 14 because it contains subjects like drugs, robberies, sex scenes, etc. This movie is recommended to audiences that like to watch movies about real conflicts happening around the world and not the cliché Hollywood movie. This Colombian movie is an excellent movie overall. Like all movies it has its ups and downs but what makes it different from the rest is that is shows the world a different reality then they are used to and one that is very common in Latin America countries. Rating: 9 out of 10This was written by McKenna Foulger who is a freshman at Lincoln School, Costa Rica. She watched this movie in her film appreciation class and was given the assignment of writing a review from the perspective of a movie critic.