“Under the Same Moon” is a heartwarming story about the Mexican immigrant experience told from the viewpoint of a mother and her son. And the movie’s underlying theme, the importance of family and love, is revealed through the effective performance of twelve-year-old Adrian Alonso. Rosario (Kate del Castillo) has left her son Carlitos (Alonso) under the care of her mother and is working in Los Angeles as a maid. Although the money she sends home provides Carlitos with many things his friends don’t have, he cannot understand why she has abandoned him. For four long years, the only communication they have had is their Sunday phone conversations, where Rosario paints verbal pictures of the area around her phone booth: the Domino’s pizza place, the laundromat, the colorful murals on the walls. When Carlitos’ grandmother dies in her sleep, Carlitos is determined to cross the border and find his mother.
According to screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos, she wanted to tell a story about abandoned children, those left behind when loving family members move north to earn enough money to send home. So part of the story focuses on Carlitos and it is Alonso’s skill and dramatic range as an actor that has him confidently interacting with various adults as he makes his way to Los Angeles. The second part of the story is about Rosario and we see how her white employers take advantage of her. We share her loneliness for her son and her fear when she learns he has run away.
Granted, “Under the Same Moon” tends to put a positive spin on experiences that could have been dark and harrowing. But there are documentaries if you’re looking for depressing stories. “Under the Same Moon” frames a story about family, love, and the persistence of a young boy, illustrating that we have more in common than we have differences. (3/5/08)
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