Maria is a 17-year-old young woman working in Bogota, Colombia at a rose plantation striping thorns off flowers and preparing bouquets for export. It’s a legal job that helps support her extended family, with many people living in the same small space. She shares her bed with her sister and the sister’s young baby, and she’s expected to pay for the baby’s prescription as well. Maria can barely tolerate her boring, going nowhere job. She works for an oppressive boss and when she is denied the right to use the bathroom, Maria decides the job is more than she can stand. After she quits her job, her family insists she must apologize to her boss, without concern for who is right or wrong. A job is a job, and no job means no next paycheck. They want that paycheck.

Maria realizes she is pregnant, and the conversation she has with her boyfriend about their future helps her decide that a major change is needed in her life. What, she’s not sure, but she needs a new boyfriend, a new job and maybe a change of venue (not unlike the younger sister in "Since Omar Left"). Maria’s friend Franklin suggests she consider a job that involves some traveling. She would become a "mule" to transport cocaine to New York City, by swallowing dozens of thumb-sized rubber pellets. When one compares making $5,000 or more per trip to the annual income in Colombia of less than $2,000, it’s a roll of the dice that one may justify betting your life on. If a pellet breaks, you die. Barring that, Maria is warned by her handler that if any pellets turn up missing, a visit will be paid to members of her family. It’s clear we’re talking Marlon Brando/Al Pacino/Soprano "Godfather" style visits.

When Maria arrives in the US and is suspected of holding drugs, she is searched and interrogated by immigration authorities. Now the film takes on the complexities of what happens when questionable decisions are made in one’s life.

George’s Take: I was taken by the determination and desperation of Maria to improve her life. She has a beauty similar to Selma Hayek but with more of an everyday people feel. Although this is not a legalize drugs message movie, it does show that if people want something, the price will be as high as needed to deliver the goods. The actual process of how the drugs are transported is riveting. Like the war in Iraq, when you hit the "go" button, there are often unintended negative consequences for a noble cause. There is even a pro-life message in the film, though the subject of abortion is only an implied topic for consideration.

What makes this a solid film, other than the overall story and fine acting, is the relationship between the women. Maria, her new found friend and experienced mule Lucy, and the too trusting Blanca play beautifully together as a trio of courageous young women, desperate to escape their condition and fate if they stand still. Lucy’s older sister Carla, who lives in NY, represents the hopefulness of what you can achieve. I was impressed with Orlando Tobon, who played the role in the movie that he has in real life, the arranger. His altruism and advocacy in the daily lives of NYC’s Colombian community achieves the goals that social support bureaucracies can only dream of. He’s the go- to guy, with his heart in the right place, who knows how to get things done.

Consider the following facts and we conclude that making a movie on the subject of teen pregnancy and the drug trade, that is not bleak in tone, is quite an accomplishment. There are over one billion people on the planet who live on a dollar a day or less. The percentage of rural Colombians living in poverty exceeds 80%. Americans spend more than $46 billion annually on cocaine and heroin. There is a war on drugs, but who are the victims and what is the cost? How is this similar to or different from alcohol?

"Maria Full of Grace" is based a thousand true stories. Writer/director Joshua Marston gives a picture of how determination and hope can allow one to walk through a minefield and survive. We certainly would not want to argue about an abrasive story with a happy ending and a strong message for young adults.