Under the Same Moon | 
| Director: Patricia Riggen
Actors: Eugenio Derbez, Kate Del Castillo, Adrian Alonso, Maya Zapata, Carmen Salinas
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $1.60
You Save: $18.38 (92%)
New (46) Used (47) from $1.60
Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 4917
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2252690D
UPC: 024543526902
EAN: 0024543526902
ASIN: B00180IPM6
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: June 17, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Movie DVD
Amazon.com
Under the Same Moon puts a human face--several very appealing faces--on the dilemma of Mexican "illegals" living and working clandestinely in the United States and the loved ones back home they're supporting. Rosario, a young single parent, left her village four years ago and jumped the border to find work in Los Angeles; ever since, she and son Carlitos, now nine, haven't seen each other, but she faithfully calls him from the same street-corner pay phone every Sunday morning. When Rosario's mother--the boy's guardian--dies in her sleep, Carlitos taps into an impressive reservoir of street smarts and contrives his own border crossing. The border is just the first of many obstacles to a mother-and-child reunion--not least the fact that the only address the boy has for Rosario is a mental image of the corner she always phones from. It's easy to take cheap shots at Patricia Riggen's feature-directing debut for tugging at the heartstrings, and certainly Under the Same Moon aspires to nothing like the political and psychological complexity of The Visitor, another film involving illegal immigrants that was released around the same time. But that misses the point, the nature of the mission, and the effectiveness with which Riggen carries it out. Carlitos encounters an almost Dickensian gallery of rogues and menaces, but that's allegorically appropriate for a crossover film (pun unavoidable) aimed at the general U.S. market as well as the Latino circuit. Nor is the movie guilty (as some have charged) of flogging an Anglo-bad/Latino-good poetics; there's opportunism as well as love among Carlitos's neighbors back home, and although Rosario is exploited and cheated by one of the two L.A. households she serves as a maid, the other family appears fond, even solicitous of her. Riggen's casting is on the money: Kate del Castillo makes a heartbreakingly lovely Rosario, and Adrian Alonso, in addition to giving a gutsy performance as Carlitos, has a marvelous old-man's face the camera never tires of. Veteran actress Maria Rojo creates a shrewd portrait of a woman who arranges border crossings and observes her own brand of ethics while doing so, and Eugenio Derbez brings raffish charm to a crowd-pleasing role, a guest worker who, though himself two leaps ahead of "La Migra," becomes Carlitos's reluctant protector. America Ferrara (yes, "Ugly Betty") contributes an unflattering cameo as a U.S. college student of Hispanic descent who doesn't understand Spanish. --Richard T. Jameson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...
 Great for Spanish Classes June 13, 2009
Isaac Schloss
I got this movie as a discussion-starter for my Spanish classes, and all my students loved it and were engaged. I highly recommend "La Misma Luna".
Under the same moon June 11, 2009
Maria Goya (Gardner, MA USA)
This movie is very nice to show in Spanish Class. It shows the struggles of a working single mother from Mejico and the efforts to get her son with her. Since it shows the boy acting the content is appealing for the students. We talked about this and a teacher can design a variety of activities around it. Tomorrow the students will work in groups to write a different ending. Muy Buena!!!
You will cry at the end May 13, 2009
A. F. (Elk Grove, CA USA)
I saw this movie when it first came out, just recently watched it again, and still felt the same way at the end, I cried because I was so happy. This is a great gift for mom's everywhere. Anyone who knows what moms really go through for their kids, the endless hours they work to put food on the table, to make sure their kids have clothing, and how they suffer when there is something wrong with their child or have to be away from them, will want to see this movie.
Others may see the issues with immigrants into the US from Mexico but as I have learned in a recent history class in college, Americans used to cross over into Mexico illegally when they discovered how beautiful Mexicans and Mexico are. They married Mexicans to stay in Mexico before the US army illegally crossed into Mexico and started an illegal war with Mexico, The Mexican - American war. Most of the western half of the US used to be Mexican territory.
 sentimental crowd-pleaser April 13, 2009
Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA)
Written by Ligiah Villalobos and directed by Patricia Riggen, "Under the Same Moon" is a bit like what you`d get if you crossed "El Norte" with a heart-tugging tale by Charles Dickens. Nine-year-old Carlitos lives with his grandmother in Mexico while his mother struggles to make ends meet in Los Angeles. Despite the harsh conditions of her life, Rosario is saving as much money as she can so that eventually Carlitos will be able to come and live with her. When his grandmother dies, Carlitos decides to make the dangerous trek to LA on his own, encountering numerous obstacles and assorted colorful characters along the way. (The plot is highly reminiscent of "A Boy Ten Feet Tall," a British film from the 1960s in which an orphaned boy travels thousands of miles from Port Said to Durban, South Africa in search of the aunt who lives there).
Sentimental in the best sense of that term, this crowd-pleasing tearjerker is a simple but touching tale of the undying love between a mother and a son and of the resilient spirit that allows people living in difficult circumstances to carry on and endure. The movie shimmers with lovely performances by the exquisite Kate del Castillo as Carlitos' devoted, longsuffering mother; Maya Zapata as her no-nonsense, pragmatic best friend; Eugenio Derbez as a cynical day laborer who finds himself unexpectedly saddled with a pint-sized companion who always seems to get the better of him, and, above all, young Adrian Alonso who, as Carlitos, lights up the screen with his authenticity, sincerity and warmth. (America Ferrera also has a small role as a college student from the states who smuggles babies across the border to help reunite them with their parents).
In the tradition of "The Bicycle Thief," "Forbidden Games, " "Sundays and Cybele," "The 400 Blows" and countless others, "Under the Same Moon" is a small, heartfelt film that artfully conveys a child's-eye-view of the adult world.
'The Straight Story,' Mexican-Style March 19, 2009
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
This certainly lived up to expectations of being "a nice movie," an involving story about a young Mexican boy who sneaks into the United States to try to find his mother in Los Angeles.
She had been in L.A. for four years and, frankly, I forget why. They don't dwell on that, but there must have been a good reason since she loves the kid and vice-versa. Each Sunday morning at 10, she calls him from the same spot. That's a key to the story.
When the woman's mother dies, "Carlito's" grandmother who had been looking after the young boy, the kid decides his options aren't good at that point and he needs to take a big chance to see if he can find his way to Los Angeles. Yes, you have to suspend your beliefs here a bit, as the odds on a kid actually being able to do that - all with no money! - are astronomical, but it's fun to watch him on his journey and how he makes do with what little he has. Some of the friendships he makes are truly touching and in a way, the best part of the film.
While writing this, it makes me flashback to the film "The Straight Story" when an old man on a tractor drives 300 miles across Iowa to see his long-lost brother. He is befriended by many people along the way, some who go to extraordinary lengths to help a stranger. That's the case here, too.
We also get a good profile of the mother, her best friend and a wonderful man she meets during this story, all of which takes place in one week. Each "chapter" of the film is broken down into days. Yes, the film is slightly preachy concerning immigration but the story is so good that one forgets about the political aspect, no matter what side one is on.
The last half hour will keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering exactly things how will turn out. That's good, because it means the movie is entertaining. Definitely recommended.
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