Themes: Cinderella Stories, Class Differences, On the Campaign Trail
Main Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Frances Conroy, Christopher Eigeman, Ralph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Natasha Richardson, Stanley Tucci
Release Year: 2002
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Can a wealthy Republican politician find happiness with a chambermaid from the Bronx? One man is about to find out, though he hardly realizes it at first, in this romantic comedy from director Wayne Wang. Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez) is a single mother who is raising her gifted but under-confident son Ty (Tyler Garcia Posey) on her own, with some help from her mother Veronica (Priscilla Lopez), after divorcing her husband. Marisa works as a housekeeper at the exclusive Beresford Hotel in Manhattan, where her boss Paula Burns (Frances Conroy) and chief butler Lionel Bloch (Bob Hoskins) urge Marisa and her best friend and fellow maid Stephanie (Marissa Matrone) to be as efficient and inconspicuous as possible. One day, while cleaning the room of noted socialite Caroline Lane (Natasha Richardson), Stephanie spies a beautiful designer gown and dares Marisa to try it on; against her better judgment, she does, and while all dolled up, she bumps into Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes), a wealthy and well-bred bachelor who is running for the Senate. Immediately charmed, Chris asks Marisa to join him for a walk in Central Park, assuming she's the blue-blooded Caroline. Marisa manages to join Chris for the afternoon, with Ty in tow, and Chris finds himself quite taken with Marisa's beauty and down-to-earth personality, as well as Ty's precocious interest in politics. Chris later calls Caroline's room to set up a lunch date, but soon discovers the stuffy Ms. Lane is not the woman he met before. Marisa is also attracted to Chris, but while her friends encourage her to pursue a romance, Veronica believes her daughter is asking for trouble by trying to win a man so far out of her social strata. The supporting cast also includes Stanley Tucci and Amy Sedaris. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Enlivened by an intermittently gritty feel but marred by some seriously deficient romantic chemistry, Jennifer Lopez's first genuine blockbuster is ultimately a paint-by-numbers Hollywood vehicle that might as well have been produced in 1982 rather than the beginning of the second millennium. With its dashing Republican hero, sanitized class struggle, and Casio keyboard-demo score, Maid in Manhattan is as weirdly retrograde as romantic fantasies come. Director Wayne Wang seems to have tried to channel some of the generalized service-sector empathy that made his Brooklyn anthem Smoke memorable: The film stock and on-location settings are convincingly grungy, and the unforced (if visibly irritable) Lopez does a passable job of playing against her increasingly stratospheric offscreen persona. But the film's script is cobbled together out of the worst kinds of Screenwriting 101 clichés, not the least of which include a quirky-shy moppet of a son and a go-nowhere subplot involving the lead character's clash with her mother's old-world ideals. Still, the most depressing -- and depressive -- aspect of the film may very well be the autopilot performance of Ralph Fiennes, whose drowsy, faux-New England riche speech patterns and soft-focus stare suggest nothing so much as a Kennedy cousin recovering from invasive dental surgery. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Priscilla Lopez - Veronica Ventura; Marissa Matrone - Stephanie Kehoe; Tyler Garcia Posey - Ty Ventura; Amy Sedaris - Rachel Hoffberg; Ray Aranha - Bus Driver; Maddie Corman - Leezette; Larry Fleischman - Full Monty; Mirjana Jokovic - Maid; Saundra McClain - Maid; Tom O'Rourke - Maddox; Larry Pine - Mr. Lefferts; Minna Rose - Shopper; Hillary Bailey Smith - Mrs. Lefferts; Millie Tirelli - Miss V.; Joseph Siravo - Delgado; Lisa Roberts Gillan - Cora; Joel Garland - Reporter; Becky Veduccio - Ty's Teacher; Daniella Van Graas - Fiancee; Bill Edwards - Reporter; Nick Wyman - Concierge; Jayne Houdyshell - Carmen; Eric Michael Gillett - Reporter; Shaun Powell - Paparazzi; Jay Edwards - Reporter; Gayle Scott - Frances; Richard E. Hirschfield - Security Man; Gilbert Williams - Reporter; Crystal Allen - Mr. Lefferts' Girlfriend; Patrick Anderson - Roosevelt Manager; Brigitte Barnett - Shopper; Beth Dodye Bass - Telephone Operator; Anthony Caforio - Power Politician; Gloria Colonnello - Shopper; Di Quon - Lily Kim; Jeffrey Dinowitz - Congressman Grey; Carla Duren - Singer; Mark Fairchild - Reporter; Lou Ferguson - Keef Townsend; Emily Frances - WPIX Reporter; Kenneth Goodstein - Bellman; Sylvia Gottlieb - Congressman Grey's Wife; Amber Gristak - Autograph Girl; Margaret Harth - Roosevelt Maid; Catherine Anne Hayes - Telephone Operator; Jeff Hephner - Harold the Room Service Waiter; Rachel Hollingsworth - Singer; Donna Karger - NY1 Reporter; Richie Karron - Harry Schiff; Stephanie Langhoff - Christopher Marshall's Aide; Patricia Lavery - Reporter; Glenn Lewis - Lead Singer; Tobias Maendel - Bellman; Seth William Meier - Christopher Marshall's Aide; Paul Messina - Journalist; Mike Morris - News Commentator; Maja Niles - Shopper; Lizza Oliver - Roosevelt Food Manager; Annika Pergament - NY1 Reporter; Javier Picayo - Ninth Grade Boy; Cole Razzano - Political Supporter; Amy Redford - Reporter; Dave Rosenberg - Reporter; Bethann Schebece - Reporter; Raquel Shapiro - Monique Guedj; Kae Shimizu - Maid; Thomas M. Sullivan - Paparazzi; Emma Thaler - Tiana; Daniel A. Thomas - Christopher Marshall's Aide; Liliane Thomas - Anouk Guedj; Marilyn Torres - Barb; Michelle Vicidomini-Serdaros - Neta; Ton Voogt - Pilates Instructor; Sharon Wilkins - Clarice; Rufus Thomas - Rufus the Dog; Michelle Thomas - Michelle
Credit
Patricia Woodbridge - Art Director, Todd Thaler - Casting, Jonathan Strauss - Casting, Richard Baratta - Co-producer, Albert Wolsky - Costume Designer, Glen Trotiner - First Assistant Director, Wayne Wang - Director, Paul Schiff - Second Unit Director, Craig McKay - Editor, Benny Medina - Executive Producer, Charles James Newirth - Executive Producer, Alan Silvestri - Composer (Music Score), Jane Musky - Production Designer, Karl Walter Lindenlaub - Cinematographer, Paul Schiff - Producer, Deborah Schindler - Producer, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas - Producer, Susan Bode-Tyson - Set Designer, Allan Byer - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Kirchberger - Sound Editor, Edmond Dantes - Screen Story, Kevin Wade - Screenwriter, Randall Poster - Makeup Supervisor, Cassandra Boyd - Assistant Art Director
Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez) is a struggling single mother trying to get by with her young son Ty (Tyler Posey) by working as a maid for a hotel. When not in school, Ty spends time among Marisa's fellow hotel workers, most of whom treat the pair as family. Marisa hopes to someday be promoted to management.
While Marisa and fellow maid Stephanie are cleaning the room of socialite Caroline Lane (Natasha Richardson), Stephanie convinces Marisa to try on a coat that Caroline had previously asked be returned to the store, arguing that it "technically" doesn't belong to anyone at the moment. Elsewhere in the hotel, Ty befriends hotel guest and senatorial candidate Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes); Ty wants to go with Chris to walk his dog and the pair go to Caroline Lane's room to ask Marisa for permission. Chris meets Marisa, who is wearing the fancy coat, and assumes that she is Caroline Lane. The trio spend some time together in the park. Though Marisa and Chris are attracted to each other, Marisa is terrified that management will find out about the ruse and makes it a point to avoid Chris afterward.
Chris asks the hotel's head butler Lionel Bloch (Bob Hoskins) to invite "Caroline Lane" to lunch, but he is confused when the real Caroline shows up instead of Marisa (ironically, Marisa was present when she received the invitation, and even offered Caroline some advice on what to wear to the date). Chris asks his assistant Jerry Siegal (Stanley Tucci) to find "the other Caroline Lane", promising that he will attend an important dinner if she will go with him. Jerry asks Lionel to find her. Lionel, who has figured out that Marisa is the woman Chris has been looking for, tells her to go to the dinner and end the affair swiftly if she wants to keep her possible future in hotel management intact. He and the hotel's staff assist her in preparing for the fancy dress affair, styling her hair and loaning her a fancy dress and a spectacular necklace.
Marisa attends the dinner and attempts to do as Lionel instructed her, but Chris stops her from leaving and the pair spend the night together in his hotel room. Marisa sneaks out the next day but is seen by Caroline, who informs hotel management. The truth is revealed, and Marisa is fired from the hotel. Chris tries to get the whole story out of Marisa, but she refuses to speak to him, claiming that he wouldn't have noticed her if she had been in her maid uniform.
Some time later, Marisa has obtained a job at another hotel. Ty attends one of Chris' press conferences and asks him whether people should be forgiven if they make mistakes. Chris responds in the affirmative, and Ty leads him to the hotel Marisa is now working at. Chris and Marisa are reunited. The film ends with images showing that Chris has been elected, he and Marisa are still together, Marisa has started her own hospitality business, and Marisa's maid friends have been promoted to management.
The film earned $18,711,407 domestically in its opening weekend, the movie was #1 at the box office playing in 2,838 theaters.[1] The film grossed a total of $94,011,225 domestically and $60,895,468 internationally.[1]
Production
Filming was carried out at the Roosevelt Hotel, New York, while other articles claim it was filmed in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
