Synopsis
A group of women, including Skipper, the wealthy young Jennifer and the domineering Nan, journey from the United States to South America in hopes of easily adopting children. Unfortunately, their plans are complicated by local laws that require the women to live in the foreign nation for an extended period before they can take in orphaned kids. While stuck in another country, the women bond as they share their aspirations and anxieties.
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Cast
- Maggie GyllenhaalJennifer
- Daryl HannahSkipper
- Marcia Gay HardenNan
- Susan LynchEileen
- Mary SteenburgenGayle
- Lili TaylorLeslie
- Angelina PeláezDoña Mercedes
- Lizzie Curry MartinezSor Juana
- Vanessa MartinezAsunción
- Amanda ÁlvarezBlanca
Recommendations
- 70
The New York Times
Some of the pieces in its jigsaw puzzle are too fragmentary, and there's a sense of racing against time to fill in the blanks. Yet the movie's even-handed portrayal of two cultures uneasily transacting the most personal business resonates with truth. - 63
Premiere
Hobbled by weak argumentation, a character who winds up a complete muddle, and Sayles’s inclination to romanticize Latin American revolutionary types, Casa is as mixed an effort as the filmmaker has essayed in some time. [October 2003, p. 18] - 60
Time
This wisp of a movie turns out to be more thoughtfully affecting than many a more high-flying film. - 60
Village Voice
The screenplay's clutchy banter (interspersed with arias of teary confession) feels distinctly Oprah, but Sayles extracts unexpected life from his wooden setups. - 60
Los Angeles Times
There is often not enough space for all these personalities to truly play out. They tend to become types rather than people, representatives of classes and points of view more than individual human beings. - 50
L.A. Weekly
The women are terrific -- they know a thing or two about modulating pathos -- and watching them is a pleasure, even if the lines they're speaking sound like those of a world-worried, first-time playwright. - 50
New York Daily News
It's too big an ensemble to provide enough back story for each player. But Sayles doesn't give his characters easily digestible labels, like "kook" or "pathetic loser." - 40
New York Magazine (Vulture)
The cast…is first-rate, but each is given a single note to play.
