What, you might ask, are "Smoke" director Wayne Wang and "Spider" star Ralph Fiennes doing in, of all things, a romantic-comedy vehicle for Jennifer Lopez? The cynical answer would be earning their rent, of course, but unlikely as it may be Wang actually pulls off this formulaic Cinderella story of a Latino hotel maid mistaken for a fellow guest by a handsome tony politician running for Senate who falls madly in love with her, turning it into a engaging and utterly charming romantic comedy. The wondrous part is, "Maid in Manhattan" had everything going against it: originally written by John Hughes as a starring vehicle for Julia Roberts, who declined to star in it but remained involved through her production company, the film suffered a number of rewrites once Lopez came on board, eventually leading Hughes to cut his ties with the studio and withdraw his name from the credits, and was still undergoing rewrites as it went into production. It only shows in the rather hurried ending, since everything else is classy, classic fairytale romance, much helped by Wang's discreet handling, a solid supporting cast and two charming performances from the high-chemistry leads: Lopez, though typecast as the confident Latina, is particularly good, and Fiennes shows a lighter side of him that serves him well. While not one of the great romantic comedies, it's the best of what has been a very lacklustre season for the genre and a sweet, worthy entry.
Review of Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan
(2002)
Classic fairytale romance - not a great romantic comedy, but not bad
18 March 2003