Maria Alvarez is charming, sweet and ever so helpful. But she is also strong-willed, independent and bold. Guess that’s why she agrees to act as a *mule*. One who smuggles drugs in her stomach. Catalina Sandino Moreno plays Maria in Maria Full of Grace, a 17-year old girl from Colombia who decides to take that risk. Desperate for money? Knowing Maria, one would suspect it to be a need to stake her independence and break away from everything that binds her to her small town in rural Colombia, bad boyfriend, crabby family and lousy job included. It is a delightful performance and the title is so apt. For in a situation that can reduce grown men to desperation and hopelessness, Maria, ever so gracefully, marches from one situation to the other, taking one step at a time, staying in the moment as only someone full of Grace can…
A very nice film with good performances and the star of the show is Catalina. Charming, graceful and such a pleasure to watch on screen.
notanangel78 says:
I saw it last week. Amazing performance eh! It was an interesting film, even though I was a little uneasy at the thought of 17-yr-olds smuggling drugs (that too by swallowing them)!
July 18, 2005 — 6:10 pm
Lakshmi says:
I know. But she was so good! I can’t help but marvel at her temperament…
July 18, 2005 — 6:33 pm
Anonymous says:
good but overrated
It was a nice movie/nice performance but I felt it was over-rated. amores perros was a *lot* better – not sure why I’m comparing the two other than that they are both spanish.
-sekhar
PS> that picture of hers on the movie cover is sublime. one of the reasons I wanted to see the movie :-).
July 21, 2005 — 4:08 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: good but overrated
I didn’t want to watch the film initially. I thought it would be a tale of poverty, hopelessness and all that stuff associated with this *business*. But I was pleasantly surprised to see such a ballsy act.. She was great and so was the story.
July 22, 2005 — 2:40 pm