By Raphaela Weissman

Under the Same Moon
Directed by Patricia Riggen

Patricia Riggen’s Under the Same Moon will be best (and perhaps only) remembered for the smart, engaging child actor at its center. Adrián Alonso plays Carlitos, a nine-year-old boy who crosses the Mexican border illegally to find his mother who works in  Los Angeles. The role calls for more than cuteness, and Alonso’s performance shows a sophisticated understanding of the bleakness of his character’s situation.

Under the Same Moon follows a well-worn formula: but a successful one. The wide-eyed child is paired with (who else?) a crusty loner, a reluctant father figure who grows to care for his companion. The relationship between Carlitos and the migrant worker Enrique (Eugenio Derbez) is winning; but this is in part because we can see its harmonious results coming from miles away. We’ve seen this happen before: Tom Cruise didn’t want to take care of his autistic brother in Rain Man, Philippe Noiret swatted at his young protégé in Cinema Paradiso and even Shrek was reluctant to accept help from Eddie Murphy’s incessantly wisecracking Donkey. And we know they always end with the tough guy being reduced to tears, hugs or both. The transformation in Under the Same Moon feels, if possible, even more predictable. Eugenio Derbez, who is primarily a comic actor, may be too comically inclined— too likeable, really— for the tough-guy-at-the-beginning role; we never fully believe he’s as reluctant to take Carlitos under his wing as he claims to be.

On the other side of the border, Carlitos’ mother, Rosario (played earnestly by Kate del Castillo), works as a maid and babysitter for two families. Actually, there’s just one family, plus one woman who speaks and carries herself like Cruella De Ville and says things like, “Sorry I’m late, you know how banquets are.” In a film about a helpless boy and his mother separated by the injustices of illegal immigration, we hardly need such an Evil American to make the point clear to us. Riggen does better when she sticks to the story of Carlitos, Enrique and Rosario. The politics of immigration, while powerful to witness, are carried off clumsily, especially in a cameo by a squirmy America “Ugly Betty” Ferrera, playing an American who smuggles Carlitos across the border under the seat in her brother’s car. The specific story, while formulaic, is carried soulfully by its three main actors, who make Under the Same Moon a success despite its flaws.