Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman) And John Sayles does it extremely well. I had avoided this movie as many critics had trashed it and for no good reason that I could ascertain.The story features six very different American women who have come to Mexico in the hope of adopting children due to their own inability (and in one case lack of desire)to conceive. The lawyer in charge of these adoptions and the owner of the resort where they stay are brother and sister and in it for the money, of course. Rita Moreno, whom I haven't seen in years and years plays the sister running the hotel.The movie is not so much about the stories of the women but about the layering of multiple stories in Mexico. Mexico is never specified but the town portrayed is Acapulco. The homeless beggar children of the street are shown, the maids of the resort coming to work from the mountains every day, a fifteen year old on the verge of giving up her child for adoption, an educated engineer who can't seem to find work anywhere and dreams of Philadelphia.Over the few months or so that the women have to stay in the resort they begin to bond with one another. John Sayles gets amazing performances out of the actresses, Mary Steenbergen, Darryl Hannah, Susan Lynch, Marca Gay Harden, Maggie Gyllenhall and Lili Taylor. He throws a compassionate eye over the whole process of the adopting of children from one country who sometimes have to abandon their genetic, tribal and cultural origins in their new home.It begs the question of how a country such as Canada or the U.S. would react if Mexicans came here to adopt our unwanted children."Casa de los Babys" is a refreshing take on a very difficult subject and brings honesty and compassion to a heartbreaking topic. 8 out of 10.

jotix100 Adopting children should be a labor of love. After all, if a woman finds herself unable to conceive, it would probably be a good idea to let her go anywhere where orphans and children that have been given up for adoption to be reunited with an infant. Well, in most cases, as we see in this film, there are people that profit from this process. It has turned to be a commercial enterprise for many people. We know a few cases where overseas adoptions have cost upwards of $100,000.00, when all is taken into account.We meet six American women who have come to Mexico in the hope of adopting children. For one reason, or another, they haven't been able to have their own babies. The connection is clear, in this case, the lawyer in charge of the adoption recommend their clients to stay at Posada Santa Marta, where the owner, Senora Munoz is working with the unscrupulous man. Since the law requires to have a local lawyer, most would be mothers have to rely on this intermediary in order to adopt.The six women in the story are so different from one another that it is hard to imagine them socializing, had they not been thrown together in the hotel to await for their newly adopted babies. Although we don't get to know them in intimate details, we can see their desire to be mothers. The quiet Skipper turns out to be the one who has suffered three dreadful pregnancies in which all three infants had died. Nan, a pushy woman, is an unhappy camper. Everything irritates her and she lets anyone know about what she thinks about the country and the adoption procedures. Eileen, coming from a large Irish family has not been able to conceive. Leslie and Gayle seem to be the best adjusted of the women. Jennifer, is the youngest of them all.There are also a couple of stories running parallel to the American women. The most touching story comes from Asuncion, one of the maids in the hotel. When Eileen tries to communicate with her, the maid, not understanding her, tells her in Spanish about the way she had to give up her own baby girl for adoption. Also, we see what appears to be an upscale woman with her pregnant daughter, Celia, as the mother weighs her options and how the girl will not have an adoption. Celia, who is only fifteen years old, evidently had relations with Reynaldo, the young stud that roams the beach in search of easy conquests.John Sayles never cease to amaze us with his stories. In this film he tackles the commerce that goes on in the adoption process. At the same time, he makes a case for how complicated the whole thing is and how these would be mothers have to face as these young infants grow in an environment that stands in sharp contrast with the street children he brings into the movie. Those children are desperately in need for adoption, yet their own society, or would be parents, will bypass them in favor of the ones that can only be obtained in a legal manner.The ensemble cast does wonders under Mr. Sayles direction. Best of all is Marcia Gay Harden, as the pathetic Nan, a prototype of the "ugly American" abroad. Daryl Hannah has some excellent moments as Skipper. Lili Taylor, Mary Steenburgen, Maggie Gyllenhaal are fine. Susan Lynch has a great moment as she tries to talk with the maid. Vanessa Martinez gives a good rendition of her character Asuncion. Rita Moreno is also seen as the owner of the hotel."Casa de los Babys" takes an excellent view at the thorny issue of adoptions.

guyb I have been a huge fan of John Sayes for a number of years. I think of him as one of the very best directors. I've managed to track down every single movie he's done. I anxiously await each new one he does every two years. This time I was very angry and disappointed. On the Special Features on the DVD, Sayes tells us how he has spent so much time in South America and really "knows" the people. Yet his political perspective on the international adoption process is extremely one sided and very anti-adoption. Seems like he just met the "Che Guevera" segment of South America (the gringos are stealing our babies). This is a uniquely bad experience for me from all his movies. I always felt that I had a total experience from each one of them; not just one extreme point of view. From a cinematography and acting point of view, the movie was good, but not quite up to Sayes greatness.

jfdelgadoinsc No resolution, no real conflict, or at least not one whose solution we see; enormous talent wasted by appalling direction: Marcia Gay Harden works too hard, ironically unconvincing. The dialogue, a few memorable lines, all derivative ("Pray for Rosemary's baby"?) Instead of a series of visuals leading to something, it was a moving slide show (with terrible camera work) without any development. Some of the situations are confusing and contradictory: when the attorney, Buendía (Armendariz), talks to his sister the motel owner (Moreno), we get the impression he is going to give Nat the baby just to get her off everyone's back. When she leaves, he states she is not getting a baby. At the end, there she is, receiving one. Uh? And Rita Moreno should never again do Spanish dialogue: she sounds as if she is reading and her punctuation is terrible, breaking up phrases at the wrong point, very disconcerting if you speak the language. She also steals scenes like a pro. In the scene where we are trying to focus on the plight of the unemployed man, she keeps tapping her fingers together, thus removing all attention from the poor sap (I wonder what he did off-camera to earn her ire, as she must know exactly what she was doing). If the point is to see the backbiting, it lacks true bite; if the point is to see what these women's lives are like, it's not deep enough. Sayles drags us in all directions and then bounces us off the wall in a dead end. 3/10