Maria Full of Grace - (2004)
Maria Full of Grace (written and directed by Joshua Marston) is the story of seventeen-year-old Columbian girl who becomes a drug mule in the hopes of giving her child a better life. The story seems compelling enough on the surface, but ultimately falls short.

The script is plodding and deliberate. The story starts slow, ends slow, and moves S-L-O-W! While this does work to remarkable effectiveness during the scenes that she is actually swallowing, transporting, and delivering the drugs, during the rest of the film I found myself terminally bored.

In addition, the last act of the film seems very contrived. The presence of Maria's friend (also a mule) truly adds nothing to the story and in fact, her only apparent purpose is to do imbecilic things and make Maria's life even more complicated. I would have rather seen Maria isolated and alone, instead of stuck with a moronic, dumpy tag-along.

Unfortunately, the rest of the characters in the film don't fare much better. Aside from Maria herself, only Lucy, another mule Maria befriends, could hold my attention.

The single most compelling part of the film is the radiant performance of Catalina Sandino Moreno. I can't wait to see more from her in the years to come.

The film is worth seeing simply for Moreno and for the scenes specifically dealing the drug transport. It's a shame, really. The premise had such potential...

Rating: OK
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- posted by Stephen @ 10:55 AM