Clevercell Very disappointing...

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

jotix100 Consider Esperanza Diaz, a young widow who must deal with the death of her teen aged daughter Blanca. She is inconsolable, to say the least. Esperanza discovers one day the image of Saint Jude, the patron saint of impossible causes, in the door of her grimy oven, which she has neglected because she has no Easy-off cleaner. The saint speaks to her and tells her Blanca is alive. Esperanza runs to the church to tell it to Father Salvador, who goes along trying to appease the distraught woman.Esperanza, who shares a house with another woman, Soledad, knows Blanca's death doesn't make sense. The girl went into the hospital for a minor procedure and ends up dead, under mysterious circumstances. Her body is never released to Esperanza because supposedly it can spread a certain type of virus. In trying to see Blanca's doctor, Esperanza is told he no longer practices in the hospital.When St. Jude appears again, he tells her about a pink house where Blanca is kept against her wishes. The house happens to be in Tijuana, a far away place from her small town in Veracruz. Esperanza decides to follow her hunch and ends up in the northern border city. In Tijuana she gets a run around, and she ends up in a series of situations that involve prostitution, something that she does against he will because she is determined to find her daughter.Her quest takes her to Los Angeles, a city that proves to be not too friendly to Esperanza, but in which she ends up finding love when she meets a wrestling star that falls in love with her. Esperanza, who decides to go back to Veracruz finally gets a vision of Blanca in a mirror on a wall of her house. When the wrestler shows up in her town, she decides to take the chance, not before ripping the wall where she can see Blanca's image.Alejandro Springall, the director of this wonderfully entertaining film, shows a natural talent for bringing together all the elements and make it work. The film is based on a novel by Maria Amparo Escandon, who also appears briefly in the film. "Santitos" made quite an impression when it was presented at the Sundance Film Festival. The film mixes superstition with an adventure. The second half of the film is a road movie as Esperanza sets out to bring Blanca home.Dolores Heredia does a splendid job as Esperanza. She gives an inspired performance and holds the picture together. This sunny actress should be seen more often because she proves to be a natural in front of the camera. Others in the film include Damian Bichir, in a small role. Alberto Estrella, Roberto Cobo and Ana Berta Espin contribute to enhance the film."Santitos" merits a view and it's a shame it didn't get a wider distribution in this country.

Claudio Carvalho In Mexico, the very religious woman Esperanza (Dolores Heredia) has just lost her teenager daughter Blanca (Maya Zapata) in a simple throat surgery. The girl contracted an unknown virus, and had to be buried in a sealed closed coffin. While cooking at home, Esperanza sees the image of São Judas Tadeu projected on the dirty oven of her stove, who tells her that she shall look for her daughter. Esperanza, in her mind, believes the doctor sold her virgin daughter to some brothel and decides to look for her in many whorehouses in her town, in Tijuana and in Los Angeles. She confesses every vision she had and what she did to Padre Salvador (Fernando Toree Laphame), who advises her about how to she should have proceeded. Her journey begins in Mexico and ends in Los Angeles, where she meets the fighter Ángel (Alberto Estrella). They fall in love for each other. The end of this funny story is not corny. This film is one of the most intelligent comedies I have ever seen. Beginning with the name of each character: Esperanza means `hope'; Blanca means `white', the symbol of purity; Padre Salvador means `priest who saves'; Los Angeles means `the angels'; Paloma means `dove', the symbol of peace; Ángel means `angel'. Further, there are many jokes with saints, but all of them very respectful. The confessions of Esperanza, always after some confusion, are also hilarious. However, the beliefs of Esperanza are very respected until the last scene. She begins very fragile, but in the end she finds love and accepts the death of her daughter, although keeping her faith. The story, although being a love and hope story, is not corny. I liked it a lot. My vote is eight.

filfy-2 I really wanted to like this film. The advertising really fooled me--I believed I was going to see another "Como Agua Para Chocolate." Wrong!The movie starts wonderfully. Esperanza's refuses to believe her recently deceased daughter is really dead and starts to search for her. First in her beautiful little town in the Veracruz state of Mexico, then Tijuana, followed by LA, and back to her hometown.Her journey was supposed to show how Esperanza changes and becomes a stronger person, but the lead actress--Dolores Heredia--was unable to do so. This is not so much her fault as she is quite appealing: I believe that the directors development of side characters and subplots take the focus away from the character development of Esperanza.This film is not without merit. The cinematography by Xavier Perez Grobet is top-notch, as well as the art direction. This film is a step in the right direction for contemporary Mexican film, but it still has a way to go.

aztecp Santitos has many wonderful things: great photography by Xavier Perez Grobet, some good acting, particularly by Demian Bichir, and the supporting actors, excellent art direction, a nice sense of humor, a good music score by Carlo Nicolau. Its weaknesses are a wooden performance by the actress who plays Esperanza, the main character. With a better, more expressive actor, this movie could have soared, since she has to carry the bulk of it. She's lovely to look at, but her performance lacks character. The story drags on a little bit too long and doesn't really seem to have much of a point. As is typical in Mexico it seems that women can only be either saints or whores -- and the novel and screenplay were written by a woman! However, it's a promising first film by Alejandro Springall and will undoubtedly delight fans of the "Like Water for Chocolate" school of magical realism.