Maid in Manhattan Reviews

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but I still ended up watching it. I mean, right from the start, it sounded like a rather odd project. I mean, who thought it would be a good idea to make a romantic-comedy with Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes? Concerning Ralph Fiennes, he is probably one of the best actors of his generation and even though he has done pretty much everything in his career, this genre is probably the only one he hasn’t mastered so far. Concerning Jennifer Lopez, she has a pretty lousy reputation as an actress but I don’t think she is so bad. Unfortunately, she always picks up such bland projects like this one and if she ever wants us to take her seriously as an actress she will really have to take some risks at some point but I don’t see it happening anytime soon. For Wayne Wang, I thought this movie was quite a stepdown from his impressive work from the 90’s (‘The Joy Luck Club’, ‘Smoke’, ‘Blue in the Face’). At the end of the day, it is difficult to pinpoint what was the biggest issue with this flick. Anyway, you can either blame the lack of chemistry between the two leads or the fact that the plot was terribly weak and predictable. To conclude, I have seen worse but it is a really average romantic-comedy and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

'Maid in Manhattan' received generally terrible reviews, and understandably so; this is no cinematic treasure. Critics were right to call the movie clichéd, contrived, and predictable. Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes lack chemistry; and (while not the brattiest I've ever seen) naturally Lopez's character's young son comes off as a little too "cute" and overly precocious.

All of this being said -- I didn't think 'Maid in Manhattan' was THAT bad of a movie. I didn't LOVE it (by any stretch) but I didn't think it was any worse than -- or much different from -- most other romantic comedies of this day and age. (Including many "rom-coms" that received far better reviews.)

Lopez neither charmed nor irritated me (much) as the title character; I rolled my eyes a few times, but for the most part, she was just kind of... meh. As for Fiennes (her character's politician love interest/Prince Charming), for what little personality his character displayed, I... sort of liked him.

I'm probably being a little too generous by giving this one two-and-a-half stars (5/10) -- but for its genre, 'Maid in Manhattan' is fine. Not wonderful by any means, but it passes the time; and I've definitely seen movies that are far worse.

Jennifer Lopez plays the role of a maid named Marisa Ventura in one of New York City's greatest hotels and is loved by all of her co-workers, both male and female.
A very polished butler took her under his so-called wing and guided her into a manager's position, which she was very well qualified to fill. Marisa is persuaded to put on a very expensive outfit and becomes involved with a very well known politician running for the US senate, Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes).
Christopher takes one look at Marisa and falls completely in love with her. We have seen movies like this over and over again with literally the same story; however I do believe that J.Lo acted well and looked stunning in the movie.

I'm surprised the rating is so low for this movie. I have come to understand that too many people believe Jennifer Lopez cannot act, but I disagree. Her role in this movie proves she has the ability and a damn good one at that. The love story is just beautiful, every romance should be like this.