source: The Perez Family

This Mira Nair film is easier and kind. It comes from a director gaining experience and expressing with confidence. The film is based on two Cuban immigrants, Marisa Tomei and Alfredo Molina, working their way into settling down in their new country of USA and all the hapless and pitiful situations they find themselves in with the City Departments. Alfredo's character wants to find his separated wife from long ago and Marisa has a thing for John Wayne who's been dead for some time. Mira then spins a humorous and poetic story around them and their real freedom into true happiness and contentment. The film scores well here. It does not follow any standard negative depictions that are expected from 'such' cinema or population groups. Mira is able to make the characters likable with a warm and friendly tone. The film's weaknesses come from a lack of emotion and sadness that is usually attached to characters by epicureans. Even its surreal scenes do not make this slow moving drama any faster. The missing elements are many and as a film suffers depth issues. Rated at 8 purely for its approach and strength to connect, Mira Nair can now try to bring more life into her characters in an example of what I consider good film-making but not good films. And not to be missed, both actors in the film play their roles brilliantly and deliver their best.

"The Perez Family" can't decide what it wants to be--a romance, a comedy, or a historical documentation of a period. The story comes from a novel about Cuban refugees--and maybe the novel was effective--but this rendition of the story is undermined by a confusing tone. It seems to move from tragedy to comedy to the surreal with such alacrity and little sense of purpose that the entire film feels inconsequential. All of the actors do a fine job. But they are given a script that devalues their performances. Marisa Tomei, in particular, gives a sensual performance that is just tossed away by the schizophrenic narrative. In the end, "The Perez Family" feels populated by caricatures. Within this film, I think there are the beginnings of a solid serious film. And a lighthearted comedy. And a sensual love story. But misdirection, bad editing and/or bad writing have mashed them all together into a lump of confusion. I do think it is possible to blend comedy, tragedy and more in one film. For a surreal, artistic, symbolistic example (that is even a musical), see Francis Ford Coppola's "One From the Heart". When I think how well some of the "Perez" characters could fit into a story like that, it reinforces my disappointment of this film. There are parts of this film that could be very striking if they were within a coherent story. Too bad.

The first scene, composed of three tracking shots, and showing happy pre-Castro Cuban beach-goers is pleasant and appealing. A political prisoner (Juan Raoul Perez) flees to the US looking for his wife (Carmela)and his daughter (Teresa) he hasn't seen for 20 years. On the boat and in the fugitives' camp he gets to know a girl (Dorita Evita Perez) with whom he starts a fake family to speed up the immigration procedure. By the time he manages to meet with his wife Carmela he has already fallen in love with Dorita, and Carmela with a policeman. Happy Ending. Dorita is an exuberant, sensual and sweet character. Juan well represents the estrangement of a prisoner and immigrant ( in a way, he recalls the Castaway of "L'invenzione di Morel"). The movie is worth seeing for few good scenes (like the one where Dorita learns that John Wayne is dead and starts crying), Marisa Tomei's beauty, and some Cuban music.

I can't begin to describe the truly exotic and sensual feeling behind "The Perez Family." The direction was at it's best starring top stars like Marisa Tomei, Angelica Huston, & Alfred Molina, and a great supporting cast including Chazz Palminteri, Trini Alvarado, & Celia Cruz. It's the story on a family trying to move to the land of the free, America, in the 1980's. But upon departing, the father is arrested and must let the family go. Years later when he is released, he climbs on board and heads to the U.S. hoping to find his family. On the way there he meets a sexy woman that slowly changes his life. Upon arrival in the states, Miami seems to be a much bigger place than he imagined and hopes of finding his family seems a lot harder than expected. It's romantic, sensual, and funny & if you believe in fairy tales, this movie is made for you. Go ask your local video store if they carry it and if its in there, get it! You're going to love it, trust me!

Nothing else good on TV, and not feeling like going to the DVD store, we watched "Perez Family" on WE network. Molina's wife and child go to Miami by boat from Cuba, he stays behind to care for the sugar cane, lands in jail for a long time. Twenty years later he manages to leave, and on the boat meets Marisa Tomei, a sexy Cuban prostitute, who at arrival in Key West suggests they represent themselves as "Perez and Perez", a married couple. They begin a life in Miami, his real wife turns up (Angelica Huston), she has fallen for a policeman (Chaz Palminteri), meanwhile Molina and Tomei begin to appreciate each other. In the climax, Molina and Huston meet up at a dance, 20 years after they last saw each other, they smile, are cordial, but they prefer the lives that fate has dealt them, Molina and Tomei stay together, his wife and the policeman stay together. Not heavy, a cute little romantic comedy. Marisa Tomei is so good!

This was a typical Hollywood film gone "A MUCK" portraying minorities in this country in ignorant ways as only Hollywood can. I'm just glad that some of the Latino actors and actresses got some Hollywood money out of this flick for playing the clowns that they were portrayed as. What a poorly written flick. I'm sure that the director tried to make the film seem beautiful...but UGHHH...the artistic license was just way too over the top. Another Hollywood failure that could have been Great gone bad because of hand tailoring movies to marketing for U.S. consumption....Don't waste your time watching this film unless you don't mind wasting it on useless drivel, remember it will be precious time that you will NEVER ever be able to recuperate....what a piece of Garbage. I HATE this Film. I wish you guys would allow me to vote "HATE" and "BARF"...!!!!

I love Marisa Tomei's acting ability and expected a lot from this movie because of her. She is, in fact, the unchallenged star, and the film is clearly a must-see for her fans. However, I didn't think the story itself worked as a romantic comedy - - there's a child murdered as a plot point, for heaven's sake! It could have worked as serious drama, and occasionally drifted in that direction, but 'drift' is the operative word here. Even some of the attempts at comic elements, such as the naked 'father-in-law', the paranoid brother-in-law, and the ironic by-play between the federal agent and the police woman seemed forced and contrived. And the romantic tension between Angelica Huston and Chaz Palminteri is non-existent, although we are supposed to believe it overcomes the love she has maintained for 20 years for the husband left behind in Cuba - and now restored to her. Watch this film for a great Marisa Tomei performance, but don't expect much more.

Mira Nair's take on comedy is quite impressive. The director is known for her more intense and dramatic films but here she proves that she can direct a comedy. Though 'The Perez Family' isn't without its share of flaws, it is overall a funny movie with loads of laugh-out-loud moments. The film is about a group of Cuban immigrants who move to the states, one of them is in search of freedom and another in search of his family whom he hasn't seen for 20 years. While the film is essentially a comedy, Nair does tackle some issues that represent the darkness of an immigrant's life. The score is energetic and the cinematography is vivacious. The pace tends to drag in some places and near the end becomes a tad too intense. Perhaps Nair could have balanced it off by including more comic punches. The dialogues are wonderful, especially the ones between Tomei and Molina. Marisa Tomei has never looked hotter. She is both sensual and hilarious and very convincing as a Cuban wild flower. She was also excellent in the more intense scenes. Angelica Huston too displays a sophisticated sensuality and shows that she too can be funny on screen. Alfred Molina is good but not as effective as his leading ladies. Chazz Palminteri is charming. The late Celia Cruz makes a pleasantly awkward appearance. 'The Perez Family' is quite a charming and funny romantic comedy that gives us a glimpse of the hardships of immigrant life but also lots to laugh about. Would like to see Nair make more comedy.

Marisa Tomei is wonderful! There is a scene it which she is kneeling down in the water just as her boat arrives at Key West which is as sexy with cloth9ing as anything * I've ever seen. ALfred Molina is great as the confused political prisoner. The story begins as Alfred Molina sends his family off to America during a crackdown of the Cuban Communists. The former dictator Batista was very kind to capitalists. The country appeared to flourish but there was much poverty. Fidel Castro came to power and many of his political opponents were jailed or killed. Marisa Tomei is a young worker in the sugar cane fields. News was difficult to come by there. When she gets to the U.S. she doesn't even know that John Wayne has died. (One of her great desires is to have sex with him) Late in his administration President Carter declared an open door policy to anyone that was able to escape Cuba. As a result, Castro cleared his jails and hospitals of many criminals and insane people. It is in the midst of THIS that Marisa and Alfred meet. He as a released political prisoner trying to find the family he'd already sent to America years earlier, she as a poor worker trying to get to a better life. In the confusion of the long line at immigration and in order to get placed with a sponsor more quickly she claims him as her husband and an old man as her father in law. For those of us who's families have been here long enough that we don't remember immigration this movie is a great reminder of why so many people have wanted to come here over the years. You really can't go wrong with this...I bought it on recommendation of a friend and watch it a couple of times a year. It is among my personal top 10.