Maria Full of Grace
Director: Joshua Marston
Year Released: 2004
Rating: 2.0
Since this film has the shape of a bell curve, it's no surprise that the smuggling part - where 17-year-old, pregnant Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) brings her unborn child and drugs into the United States from Columbia - is the best part, as she has to learn to swallow the drugs, act calm on the plane (which she doesn't, really) and make the delivery. But the beginning, which shows how determined and 'individualistic' she is (and where circumstances outside herself - lots of angry friends, family and her boss - force her hand) and the ending (which gives up on common sense and ends before things become dismal again) both fail to compete. Director Marston basically instructs Moreno to keep a straight face and not inflect much, but it works in favor of the film.
