Casa de los Babys

by Shelley Cameron

for Reel Movie Critic

HHH

Mary Steenburgen Gayle

Daryl Hannah Skipper

Marcia Gay Harden Nan

Lili Taylor Leslie

Maggie Gyllenhaal Jennifer

Susan Lynch Eileen

Rita Moreno Sra. Munoz

Directed by John Sayles. Drama. Rated R for some language and brief drug use. Running time: 95 minutes.

Would-be mothers play the waiting game

Director/writer John Sayles' latest is an examination of the uncertainties endured by those inhabiting the world of adoptions in less affluent countries. It is a film awash in the hopes and heartaches of those who crave a child. A group of American women come together at a hotel in a large city south of the equator to wait out the legal procedures of adoption. For those who have the money, innkeeper Señora Muñoz (Rita Moreno) provides food and lodging as they wait for a call from the house of babies. While they field red tape, her guests may be forced to stay a few weeks longer than expected. They may spend more money than expected. If this allows her to make ends meet, no harm is done. For the women, the wait can be excruciating.

The women cope in different ways. Skipper (Darryl Hannah) works out physically; power swimming, and running. Leslie (Lili Taylor) watches soaps in Spanish, remarking on the universal language of stupidity, Gayle (Mary Steenburgen) prays. Although it appears more like a luxury vacation than an unsettling mission, waiting is inevitably a big part of the undertaking. The most disturbing performance is from Marcia Gay Harden as Nan whose need to become a mother is frightening. As Leslie observes, one can't be stopped from being a mother just because she is unlikable. They have all come to try what is probably their last alternative for being mothers.

At times the film falters and almost falls into sermonizing, but the blemishes do not mar the overall power. A major strength of John Sayles ("Lone Star", "Limbo") is his ability to put well-drawn characters in believable situations and most of the characters here have humanity. The nurses who tend the babies, the pregnant teenager, the beach boy who remains blissfully unaware of his paternity, the adopting women; each one has a unique point of view. The notions of what a "real" mother is and conceptions about the fringe enterprises that thrive on rich Americans are the issues. Never mind that the "rich" American may be a struggling working woman from Boston (Susan Lynch) who counts her money each day hoping to get a baby before it runs out. Sayles has empathy for them all, including the beautiful babies, lovingly photographed in their cribs, like a picture in an old fashioned book where babies in heaven wait for the stork ferry down to earth.

Not so cozy and comfortable are the street urchins who are well past the age when any welcoming family will reach out and choose them. They beg, borrow, and steal to survive. Sayles handles this with a soft pedal. Surely, the reality must be worse than finding a place on the beach to fall asleep watching shooting stars. The random aspect of the stars is evidence of the role of chance woven throughout the film reminding us that we do not have the control we sometimes think we do.