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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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Under the Same Moon (2008)

Rating: 2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Pale 'Moon'

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Posters at Moviegoods.com

A 9 year-old boy, Carlitos (Adrian Alonso), crosses from Mexico to the U.S. to find his mother (beautiful Kate del Castillo), who has been working illegally in Los Angeles to provide a better life for him. It's another one of those soft, simpleminded imports specifically designed for Western arthouse audiences, with everything spelled out in dialogue; characters tell each other plot details as well as voicing hot-button complaints about the treatment of immigrants. Director Patricia Riggen follows all the usual guidelines, going hand-held for tense scenes, etc., but she does manage to build up suspense as the film reaches its climax. America Ferrara appears in a small part as an American who tries to smuggle Carlitos across for college money.

Starring: Kate del Castillo, Adrian Alonso, Eugenio Derbez, Maya Zapata, Gabriel Porras, America Ferrera, Carmen Salinas, Maria Rojo
Written by: Ligiah Villalobos
Directed by: Patricia Riggen
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some mature thematic elements
Language: Spanish, with English subtitles
Running Time: 106 minutes
Date: March 19, 2008