Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

GazerRise Fantastic!

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Henry Fields Casa De Los Babys deals with so many issues... so many that John Sayles would need a 100 hours long movie to go deeply into all of them. And since that's not possible he manages to do it in +/-90 minutes.Let's see: 4 north-american women (plus one from Ireland) stay in some hotel in México waiting to adopt a child. 5 different personalities, 5 different ways of facing life, 5 different existences. We have the reactionary-arrogant-and-proud-northamerican one (Marcia Gay H.), the rebel and nonconformist one (Lily Taylor), the catholic-alcoholic (Steenburgen), the misterious and reserved one (Hannah), and the dreamer (Susan Lynch). In 90 minutes we find out what do they expect from life, what are their fears, their desires; we find out about their personal dramas and their social status; what they've been through (Sayles manages to do that with only a dialogue line in many of the cases) and so... Also we have the fact that those women from the first world, have come to a third world country in order to adopt a child. With 4 or 5 sequences Sayles perfectly explains WHY México is a country where people comes to adopt children to, and why thousands of mexican women have to get rid of their babys. We see children of the street (7 or 8 years old homeless kids robbing and taking drugs),young girls getting pregnant and being forced to give their babys away (in a Catholic country just like México, abortion ain't an option), men that cannot find a job, and the corruption that hides in third world countries' bureaucracy. Well, so many things to thing about. We need more movies just like this one. Social cinema (Ken Loach, Frears, León de Aranoa) is frowned upon by some people, maybe because it makes them fell guilty.And what to say about the cast? The five starring actresses may not be the most handsome, nor the most famous, may not have the best bodies... But let me tell you something: this is the best female cast in years. If the Oscar's were for real they should give a goddamn golden little naked man to each and every one of the women that appear in Casa De Los Babys. Not only to the anglo-saxon ones, but also to the mexican cast. If you don't care about third world's penuries, nor about people's personal dramas, you should go and watch Casa De Los Babys just to know what it means to be an ACTRESS.My rate: 8/10

DLC95 The genius of this film is exactly the characteristic that many here have criticized it for: it contradicts itself all over the place and ends abruptly with no resolution. What possible resolution could you expect? Adoption is an inherently troubling phenomenon. It always involves awkward intersections of race and class, opportunity and the lack thereof, sex and sexism, law and morals. I found this film to be deeply troubling in all the ways it should be, due to the topic. I think Sayles did a brilliant job bringing together a number of very believable characters and just showing them to us for 90-some odd minutes. All have their contradictions, and none clearly speaks some unambiguous authorial opinion. The son of the hotel owner mouths his leftist analysis with his buddies, but is really a drunken loser. Rita Moreno, through her frustration with her husband's politics, voices the frustration of so many women: politics is one thing, but who'll take care of the kids? And of course, the reverse is implied as well: kids are one thing, but who'll take care of the politics? You can go through each of the characters and seem some inherent pull in opposite directions.I loved that none of the characters is entirely sympathetic, except perhaps the three homeless boys. They are all complicated and corrupted by a complicated and corrupt world that places a premium on babies and motherhood, but only under the "right" circumstances for the right women and the right kids. I was very grateful that there was no real closure at the end, and that all Sayles had to say was that, despite all, both the least sympathetic and the most sympathetic of the potential moms were about to leave with babies. Anyone who cares about kids and women should see this movie. And certainly anyone who is considering adoption (domestic or international -- either way, it's all the same issues) should see it. In sum, a very thought-provoking movie.P.S. -- Did I mention the incredible soundtrack?

annamarievh307 I was completely disappointed. The movie seemed contrived and forced. There were too many back stories combined into one, and I found it difficult to concentrate on the story at hand. The ending was far too abrupt. I normally like all of these actresses, but this was not a good movie to show them as a solid cast. I would have liked to see each character fleshed out a bit more.I also agree that it was a completely one-sided view of international adoption. The whole time watching, I had trouble really understanding most of what was going and why characters were popping in and out of the story.

jdesando John Sayles' `Casa de los Babys' is a strange film, even for the eccentric director of such art-house favorites as `Matewan' and `Lone Star.' Strange because I can't tell where he's coming from: Does his film show in typically oblique Sayles' fashion the exploitation of women waiting to adopt children from Latin America? Or is it homage to the industry that delivers babies to needy gringo women?Or is his juxtaposition of scenes with waiting-moms and the careless promiscuity of Latino youths producing unwanted babies transcending this locale into the human irony of those who can't have and those who carelessly have.Probably both, although it is hard to sympathize with the Marcia Gay-Harden character, who lies and steals toiletries from the maid's cart and exhibits questionable activity with the dolls she uses to practice for motherhood. Her ''Believe me, you don't want my husband to have to come down here!'' exclamation is chilling because you know she can cause the trouble. Darryl Hannah's athletic, masseuse mom is the most memorable as her loss of 3 children after childbirth is slowly revealed to a skeptical flock of waiting mom wanabees. Susan Lynch's Irish girl has a soulful exchange with a Latina maid that is poignant because neither understands the other's language, but each clearly understands the longing for motherhood.With little climactic activity and too many separate actions and characters, the story could almost be a faux documentary, and its theme is just about as buried as a well-done news piece from CNN. Although it is not the obviously political `Sunshine State,' it carries weight about the two cultures, which serve each other. Again the Harden character offers the jaundiced point of view: "They're making us pay for our babies with the balance of trade."It is possible Sayles is praising women who wait so long and so promisingly for someone else's children. Shakespeare says it succinctly: `Let her never nurse her child herself, for she will breed it like a fool.'