The romantic comedy Maid in Manhattan was tailor-made for its star Jennifer Lopez.
It's a rags-to-riches Cinderella story that lets Lopez show her sweet, strong and sexy sides.
Lopez is Marisa Ventura, a girl from the projects who works as a chambermaid in a swank Manhattan hotel.
She's a devoted single parent of a bright but timid son named Ty (Tyler Garcia Posey).
Her potential Prince Charming is the rich, handsome, available politician Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes). To make certain audiences realize Marisa is a modern-day Cinderella screenwriter Kevin Wade throws in a couple of mean sisters in the persons of a pair of hotel guests.
Caroline Lane (Natasha Richardson) is a vain, rich, crass socialite, but her vicious friend Rachel Hoffberg (Amy Sedaris) makes Caroline look like a lamb.
Caroline has just been dumped by her latest beau so she is available in the extreme and staying two floors away from Marshall in Marisa's hotel.
Marisa is one of the hotel's most respected maids so she has been assigned to both suites.
When Marisa and her fellow maid Stephanie (Marissa Matrone) are cleaning Caroline's suite, Stephanie convinces Marisa to break all the rules and try on one of Caroline's outrageously-expensive outfits.
Marshall appears at the door of the suite with his dog and Ty in tow and mistakes Marisa for Caroline. They all go for a walk, fall instantly in love and Ty even decides to play Cupid when his mother understandably doesn't want to pursue a relationship.
Marisa gets an invitation to attend a lavish social affair and all her friends at the hotel work to turn her into the belle of the ball.
When Lopez enters the black tie affair suitably late, she looks positively luminescent as any Cinderella should.
Marshall has to discover the truth and that looks like the end of the dream for both him and Marisa.
Little sparkle
Maid in Manhattan sparkles a little, but it never glows and that's because Lopez is no Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan or Sandra Bullock. She's too controlled and too cold. She doesn't have Roberts' coarse laugh and dishevelled hair or Ryan's giggly twinkle and she most definitely does not possess Bullock's uncanny sense of physical comedy.
Fiennes is suitably handsome, but he needs to be a little more devilish.
With two near mannequins as the leads, it was wise to fill the supporting cast with performers who are not afraid to have a lot of fun at their own expense.
Richardson and Sedaris are hysterical as the society matrons who've been pampered, primped and pulled a few too many times.
As Marshall's fussy aide, Stanley Tucci bathes his lines in sarcasm and little Posey is charming without being cloying.
Bob Hoskins actually brings a degree of dignity to the proceedings as the head of hotel service staff.
He's the stuffy English butler who understands much more than he ever lets on.
Maid in Manhattan may be instantly forgettable, but it works its magic while it lights up the screen.
(This film is rated PG)
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