Under the Same Moon (2008)

Touches You

Thanks for the memories!

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

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

it's nice and all, but a lot of things were sorta cheesy. there was one scene where the "moon" (which is pretty significant considering it's in the title of the movie) looked like some poster covering the window. then before *spoiler alert* the grandma died, the boy had been crying because he missed his mom. apparently his last name is Reyes, so she tells him "don't cry. we are Reyes, and Reyes are strong." i'm not sure if any of this is even an accurate representation of like how Mexicans really talk to their grandchildren, but cringey things like this sorta take away from the whole viewing experience. i mean, it didn't really look like she was consoling him, she was just kinda telling him to stop crying because he had a certain last name. i'll admit i'm being petty on that part, but there was a scene where he was panting like crazy and he kept looking out of a peephole while they were trying to cross the border and he was locked away, and the cop just ignored him. and how did Carlitos exit the car? he just kinda popped out of nowhere into some place and expected to buy a ticket. and why were America Ferrera and her boy toy okay with letting some kid die in the extreme heat of the car? and lettuce not forget how a 9 year old kid could persuade a restaurant manager in under 2 minutes to hire 2 people. this wouldn't happen. and somehow in those 2 minutes, he *alone* had also persuaded the manager to lend them a place to stay. wtf ever that's just dumb and lazy writing. not to mention whoever played that manager thing was the *worst* actor in this movie. Edit: I'm watching this in class so I saw it piece by piece and let me say how p'd off I am that Carlitos and that one dude hung out a lot and he was even a father figure at some point and got arrested for dumb Carlitos but the credits roll after that stupid reunion and we never hear of him again? He got arrested and probably sent back to Mexico for that kid and that's it. That's really it? I did not like this movie. From 7 to a 5. It would have made up for it if the mom had been ran over or something and it changed the feeling entirely but nope it still remained a "sweet" movie without caring about *major* characters

I think that if a film is capable of make you smile and at the same time make you feel goosebumps then is an amazing movie. I shall only describe my two favorite scenes. the first, was when the child was singing in the restaurant kitchen with the man, i laughed out loud. the second was when the kid meet his mother, and that moment is magic, and you feel goosebumps, because finally, after so much suffering, they were together. Is a full magic film, the moon issue, and the incredible maturity of this kid, that despite being full of suffering, can smile. besides, the issue of the relationship between child-mother, and the distance and hard life, you can analyze through this film, the conflict of immigration in USA, you can watch, how people run from police to avoid being caught. The vulnerability of their life, the American dream.

Under the Same Moon was an interesting movie that told a different side of illegal immigration that we usually don't hear about. I enjoyed hearing the story of Carlitos and how he journeyed from Mexico to Los Angeles in order to reunite with his mother. His story was heartwarming and it was nice to see a moving tale like his as opposed to the cold hard statistics that we are normally told. I liked Enrique's character and enjoyed watching him assume the role of Carlitos guardian, which was a big step for him as he was so used to being a lone wolf. I am glad that Rosario was reunited with her son in the end, however I was quite skeptical that a nine-year-old boy could complete such a journey. On many instances Carlitos was saved by extreme luck such as when he was seconds away from being sold into slavery, barely escaped the INS, and miraculously found the spot that his mother calls him from. I also did not care for the inclusion of his father in the story. When Oscar was introduced in the beginning of the movie by Carlitos' aunt and uncle it seemed like that would become a major part of the movie later on, but that part of the story never really developed. The meeting between Carlitos and his father seemed kind of forced and the audience is never really told why Oscar left his son once again. Otherwise Under the Same Moon was an enjoyable movie to watch that I recommend to others.

Giving an inside view on the perpetual topic of illegal immigration, Under the Same Moon follows a young boy as he travels across the border from Mexico to the United States in search of his mother and, perhaps, happiness. The movie has a touching story that gives a dash of love and family while also displaying the hardships that many illegal immigrants face when they come to America. Being balanced in that respect, the movie can be a family film with parents being able to relate to several characters in the movie and children being able to find a hero in the courageous boy Carlitos. With that being said, at times the movie can seem extremely far-fetched because, after all, a nine year old boy is travelling hundreds of miles with nothing but a backpack on his back and bit of tattered English on his tongue. The viewer will undoubtedly think "yeah, right" or "how convenient" throughout the movie but the foundations of the movie, love and ambition, will trump all such thoughts. This movie is not a must-see but I do recommend it to any one who has emigrated from another country, who's family had to immigrate in generations past, or who lives in a culture that is not native to their home.