How Not to Watch a Movie

As I often do after watching a DVD, last night I looked up Maria Full of Grace on Roger Ebert's website, on the L.A. Weekly, and on Amazon to read the reviews and see what others thought.

The movie is about a young Colombian woman, dissatisfied with her lot in life (as any sane and semi-intelligent person would be). She quits her job on a flower plantation, dumps the young man who impregnated her, and stumbles into employment as a "mule," smuggling heroin into New York by swallowing sixty-odd pellets of the stuff and hoping she gets to her destination before they start emerging, or worse, breaking open.

James Marston's script carries its politics lightly; this is a story about people, not policy. It's not a masterpiece, but I was quite moved by the look into what forces (from economic desperation to personality flaws) might push people into endangering themselves like that. Then I turned to Amazon and found this. (Don't read it if you want to see the movie.)

In close to two hours, D. Holte failed to notice anything about the characters, the theme, the plot, the cinematic design, or anything other than the last few minutes. Why? I suspect it's because he's on the lookout for anything that will confirm his political point of view, whether it makes sense in context or not.

SPOILER:

Having undergone a terrifying, lonely few days in which she learns that her actions have consequences, Maria decides to remain in the United States and try to make a better future for herself and her child. Yes, she lacks the proper visas and is therefore here illegally, but she has seen that life in New York is not so very different from life in Colombia, that people exist who will help her lead an honest life, and that there is hope for her.


D. Holte notices only that she remains in the country illegally, declares that for that reason she has no sense of responsibility, and even goes so far as to speculate (against all the evidence of plot, character and theme) that she intends to set herself up independently in the smuggling business. He doesn't see a human being when he looks at the character of Maria, he sees only his own biases.

That's a shame, and the fact that he decided to share his shortcomings with the Amazon-reading public is even more of a shame.

Benshlomo says, Some people should stick to political pamphlets and avoid anything with more nuance (yes, that word).