In an unnamed South American country, six women (Daryl Hannah, Mary Steenburgen,
a delightfully despicable Marcia Gay Harden, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lili Taylor, and
Susan Lynch) have formed a community as they wait in a hotel for word on their
potential adoptions. Discovering deep secrets about each other, learning the
history of their surroundings, and dealing with the local rules and regulations,
the women are actually just a small part of a bigger picture of the adoption
process.
Watching a John Sayles film is like taking a flight to another land. This is the
first review I've been able to write about a Sayles picture, after having been
an admirer of his work and being thoroughly blown away by his 1996 southern
justice tale, "Lone Star." Whether it's returning to the disgraced 1919 Chicago
White Sox in "Eight Men Out," staging an Alaskan thriller in "Limbo," or delving
into the degenerative effects of corporate Florida tourism in last year's
"Sunshine State," Sayles can be counted on for enlightening stories reaching the
far corners of the globe, about people much like ourselves.
"Casa de Los Babys" (IMDb listing) is a prototypical Sayles picture: it deals with multiple
characters in a situation they know precious little about. There is very little
actual plot to "Babys." The picture acts more as a snapshot of a place where
powerful and affluent European and American citizens go to take the needy away,
encroaching on a nation's heritage, while saving it at the same time.
The film isn't overtly political, but more of a Saylesian lyrical piece in which
the audience gets to see all sides of the coin without ever getting caught up in
judgmental screenwriting. We meet the American and European mothers who stomp
around, barely knowing the language, spreading their trepidation and self-worth
to whomever will listen. We see the haggard hotel manager (a commanding Rita
Moreno), who is tired of the persistent Americans whining about the facilities,
yet cannot turn away the precious "yanqui" money. Sayles shows us a teenager who
has been impregnated by the town lothario, and now is caught up in the whirlwind
of the national baby factory. And we witness the local children, all too old for
the adoption process, losing their innocence on the streets, begging for money,
with nowhere to sleep at night, and huffing spray paint to make the pain
disappear.
When the film starts to lose focus on the ideas presented in the story,
Sayles breaks the movie up for a simple montage of the babies in
the title; snapping the audience back into the awareness of why this process
occurs daily in South America.
At a criminal 96 minutes, "Casa de Los Babys" isn't Sayles' most cohesive film;
there is an inevitable feeling of a short stop when the end credits roll, as
most of the characters' fates remain unknown. Yet, in being so abrupt and quickly
paced, Sayles manages to keep his ideas fairly undemanding and efficient.
"Babys" is a film that will connect instantly with any person who has ever
tried to conceive a child, but its portrait of the greater scheme of things is
something that should be viewed by all.
Filmfodder Grade: A-