Casa de los Babys: I was watching a "making of" sort feature that highlighted something that was somewhat lost as I viewed the film ... there are aspects to the film (surely intentions behind it) that are quite powerful. The long career of John Sayles, who made independent films when he wasn't writing or cleaning up scripts of more mainstream fare in order to have the money to do so, is very impressive. The same applies to his social conscience, though some people feel it overwhelms his storytelling. The messages being sent in this film, including the mothers wanting babies and the poverty/inferior status of the land where they went to get them hits home. And, as a whole, it is hard to find a false note in the acting ... Daryl Hannah is not someone you think of for dramatic work, but she is wonderful here, as are the rest. The movie as a whole is worth watching.

I still didn't really like it. I had mixed feelings about his last film, Sunshine State because I don't think the storytelling was tied together enough; but, I did feel it was a complete movie, and not just a connection of scenes and characters. This film has some powerful scenes (a favorite might be when a teenage maid and one of the potential moms to be each open their hearts, though at least one has no idea what the other one said), but it doesn't really work as a film. The ending especially seemed just to happen ... like they just ran out of film or something, while also feeling a bit of a cheat given an earlier scene.

A woman once told me that she feels that most films offer you something to enjoy, and her opinion fits this film as well. Other films might be more complete, but do not often the little gems that this film does. To speak in a cliche, the whole is not the sum of its parts, but the parts probably are worth the price of admission.

A final note ... John Sayles wrote/directed a film a few years entitled Men With Guns, and did so in Spanish, which was deemed notable at the time. It is not like he showed a big bilingual ability in the past. Now, he is giving interviews partly in Spanish. I don't know, but it's like one day he thought "let me learn Spanish so I can better examine subjects involving Latin America." [ed. In fact, he did write something that required he learn the language, and he went from there. Still, he basically learnt the language in adulthood, becoming more comfortable with it in the last few years.] I wouldn't be suprised if one day he decides to examine Asia or the Native American life, and learns to speak their language, and (like here) write character bios in the native tongue!