Under the Same Moon

Rating: ****

In the United States, the hot-button issue of illegal immigration from Mexico into the US is usually presented in such black and white terms: deportation versus amnesty. With this type of vitriolic debate, it’s easy to forget that these are human beings struggling to survive and trying to do a little better than they might have had back home. And it should be remembered that so-called “illegals” are easily exploited by American industry as well. On the other hand though, these are a group of people in the country by circumnavigating proper immigration procedure.

The Sundance hit Under the Same Moon manages to find a middle ground amongst this debate by telling the story of the boundless love between a mother and son. Rosario (Kate del Castillo) works cleaning houses in Los Angeles while her son Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) lives with his grandmother back in Mexico. Rosario is trying to save up to secure her legal status, but after four years she’s not much closer to being reunited with Carlitos. When his grandmother dies in her sleep, Carlitos makes the perilous trek to LA to be reunited with his mother. He’s helped out along the journey by migrant worker and notable curmudgeon Enrique (Eugenio Derbez), as Carlitos struggles to make it to his mother by Sunday when she makes her weekly phone call.

Under the Same Moon is a beautiful fable; simple and elegant, although it does sometimes delve into the truly dark side of being an illegal immigrant in the U.S. Is it realistic? Not remotely, and I highly doubt that the director and the screenwriter intended it to be read as such. The emotions are real, but let’s face it: a boy making his way across the border, covertly concealed in the middle seat of a van, and then practically hitching from El Paso to LA on a wing and a prayer is like absolute zero. But unless you’re totally right brained, you aren’t really thinking of these things during the film and are instead swept up in the narrative of an enthralling road movie.

Alonso is a tremendous young actor that carries the movie’s literal quest and the emotional journey to get there on his small shoulders. Derbez does a great job of playing along in the cynical, grown-up sidekick role; he’s a loveable hard ass that tries very hard not to get involved with the boy, but he hilariously fails. Del Castillo gets a lot of the meaty acting work though also, unfortunately, the most clichéd. There’s a subplot about another immigrant that works as a security guard with a romantic interest in Rosario, as well as a scene where a rich (British?) white woman mistreats her, fires and doesn’t pay her because Rosario’s an illegal. What’s she going to do? Call the police? You can practically hear the snide laughter coming from here.

That really is the downside to the film, not just that particular vignette but while Carlitos is on his journey, the opportunity to meet his birth father presents itself. What are the odds? Million to one that he’d end up in Tucson, precisely where Carlitos’ father ended up after abandoned him and his mother. Such contrivances aren’t noticeable while being swept up in the story, but thinking about it after the fact these sticky bits of predictable plotting becomes more noticeable. I will say that the film could have easily played to the pro-amnesty position by presenting border patrol and INS as faceless and feckless thugs. Instead the story comes from the point of view where they’re analogous to the policeman that arrests the thief stealing food to feed his family.

But certainly Under the Same Moon isn’t about solving the immigration crisis – the story is not that complex. It’s a heartfelt story that, despite sometimes swaying into melodrama, is not presented in an overly sappy or sentimental way. I dare anyone who’s for personally marching every Mexican back to the border in chains to not feel something for this family central to this story. Call it An American Tale for the new generation of (illegal) immigrants.