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Plot

Leftist filmmaker Ken Loach directs this grim drama about the plight of seemingly invisible office cleaners in contemporary L.A. who often earn as little as $6 a day without benefits. The film opens as Maya (Pilar Padilla), a young Mexican lass, is reuniting with her older sister Rosa (Elpidia Carrilio) in L.A. after a harrowing cross-border journey. Rosa sets her sister up first with a job as a barmaid, which Maya soon quits after getting repeatedly groped -- and then as a janitor. When her boss demands one month's salary as "commission," Maya happens upon Sam Shapiro (Adrien Brody), a muckraking lawyer and union agitator. This film, which was screened in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, is remarkable for its prescience -- it was shown a month after a massive janitor's strike ground L.A.'s business community to a halt.
MPAA Rating:
R for strong language and brief nudity.
Genre(s):
Drama
Run Time:
110min.
Theatrical Release Date:
05/11/2001
DVD Release Date:
11/27/2001
Distributor(s):
Lions Gate Films
Director(s):
Ken Loach
Starring:
Kevin Kline , Adrien Brody , Glenn Close , Elpidia Carrillo , Jeff Goldblum
Themes:
Labor Unions,Inner City Blues,Immigrant Life,Servants and Employers
Tone:
Confrontational,Drab,Earthy,Earnest
Keywords:
border-guard,cleaning-woman,immigration,immigration-official,labor [work],left-wing
Country of Origin:
USA - Limited (05-11-2001)
Language:
English