Bread and Roses (2000)

OK...my problem was we're presented with an effective, compelling story that gets flushed at the end.SPOILER ALERT: Why does Maya steal for a man she's not in love with? And Maya, didn't you think of slipping on some latex gloves before you touched the cash register?Also...what was up with only facing 3 years for robbery? What happened to unlawful imprisonment for the guy she locked in the bathroom...who had a witness to it?Also...didn't Maya and Sam (the guy she does love) discuss what would happen if the cops showed up during the demonstration in the building lobby? It was only done to weed out any illegal aliens...would they risk that? Once the cops ordered them to leave, in the real world all of the illegals would have stepped outside.It also seemed that the resolution came too fast and out of nowhere...too much like now we need to hurry and get the movie over with.

I am a member of United Food & Commercial Workers. The first time I saw this movie was August 23, 2004 at a youth conference. This is one of the best union movies I have seen. I was in Montreal this summer at a convention and we all sang the song as well. The movie is very moving and gives a very powerful perspective on what happens at some strikes and also what happens when workers find out you are trying to organize the workplace. Organizing is when you try and get the workplace unionized. As a female, I am truly amazed at the fight these women put up with to become unionized. I personally have been touched by Bread & Roses and I know many fellow union members who have been as well.

Yes, this film is about a "dreary" topic, labor organizing and workers struggling for a living wage. Yes, it is political in taking the point of view of the workers. Yes, the "heroes" are janitors, some of whom are "illegal" immigrants. These might be reasons why you might be "turned off" by the movie. BUT, if these are your reasons to refuse to see it or give the movie a bad review, then you are only judging this film with your HEAD, not your HEART or your GUT. I agreewith the reviewer who said that if you are not totally moved by the relationship of Maya and Rosa and what happens to them and the other workers, you need apulse check.First of all, the movie, the characters, and the conflicts ARE complex, but the complexity is complicated and sometimes very subtle, just like in real life.Just because it doesn't "show" you the life of the mean boss (played brilliantly by comedian George Lopez, whose humor about being Mexican in America is assharp as Chris Rock's about being Black in America) outside of his work doesn't mean that he is "one-dimensional." It's not hard to understand why he would be such an asshole at work, towards other "brown" people who are immigrants like him (or perhaps his parents or grandparents; he does speak Spanish but it's not clear whether he himself is an immigrant). Think about it! This is a guy who has probably sucked a lot of ass himself to get where he is--a brown manager in a large American corporation, working in one of the largest buildings in downtown L.A. Don't you think he's got a lot at stake himself to keep his job? Is he going to let a bunch of unruly janitors working under his thumb threaten his position as king of the hill of working colored people? Isn't he ultimately just as vulnerable as the janitors themselves?--the coporation probably sees him as a dime adozen too, if he doesn't do his job--which is to protect the corporation. Of course he's going to be ruthless and therefore "one-dimensional" in this environment. As for the other "corporate" workers, lawyers, etc.--they are ambushed by the workers in an environment where they expect them to be invisible and meek. I don't think it would be realistic for them to have any other initial response than shock and disbelief. This would also come across as "one dimensional" forthose who are only interested in seeing the "other side" get some sort of "equal play".This is NOT a simplistic illegal immigrant-as-saint -and-totally-triumphant hero movie. Maya IS punished at the end for robbing a gas station and is deported on a bus to Tijuana. The INS officer tells her she is lucky to get off so lightly and indeed she is. Her sister Rosa does have to whore her way to the U.S. and is a traitor to her fellow workers. Maya comes across as young and impulsive andmorally a little questionable at times (she steals to help her friend get his scholarship), which is what she is. It's both what makes her charming andvulnerable. Her Mexican immigrant boyfriend accuses her of ditching him forthe labor organizer (Sam, played by Adrien Brody) because he's white, and she denies it a little too vehemently. I found that Adrien Brody was a far less powerful presence in the film than the actors who played the workers. His zeal as a labor organizer was legitimately questioned--by Maya, who asks him, what does he have at stake, as a college- educated worker whose $22,000 organizer salary is still almost double that of the janitors and who doesn't have to support extended relatives like they do? And his supervisor in the union also becomes upset that his riskyconfrontational antics will jeopardize the union and wants him to back off the entire fight. That scene displays enough of the intra-union politics to show that unions themselves are imperfect crusader agents--they also pick and choosebattles, often choosing the ones that they think they can win. And self- righteousness is probably an easy trap to fall into for union organizers when the odds against their victories are so high; they gotta find some reason to continue this hard work!I agree that the scenes of Sam, confronting the building manager, and theending where the corporation all of a sudden bows down and decides to settlew/ the striking workers and reinstate all of them, are unrealistic and less than convincing. But on the whole, this a movie that punches you in the gut, hasgood humorous moments and good pacing, and characters that make you careabout them, IF you are open to it and pay attention to subtleties that are there.

The idea was good; the injustice of the plight of illegal Mexican workers is well- felt (especially from the p.o.v. of a woman, for once). However, there are various scenes in the movie where "corny" is the only adjective I would use to describe the intensity and feeling. In a sense, by watching Bread and Roses, we understand what "role" each character is supposed to "play" in the layout of the story. George Lopez's character (Perez) is the "dick" boss; his non-stop cursing and unnecessary shouting at old ladies gives him away-- unbelievable, un- authentic. The first meeting the Angel workers hold is reminiscent of something the Bayside crew would have done on Saved By the Bell-- again, the viewer knows what's supposed to be going on.. but it's of the utmost cheese. Thirdly, Sam's argument with his boss is again another "typified" scene.. In fact, the only truly believable scene is Rosa's breakdown during which Maya's "Yo no sabìa"'s are felt loud and clear. Just because this movie treats a "taboo" subject, it raises no questions; it conjures no thought-- why not get into Perez's character a little, and get into his role as a recent immigrant? How about the smugglers? How about Maya's (and other workers') status as, "illegal" aliens in the first place-- can they demonstrate against a corporation when they themselves don't pay taxes to contribute to the making of laws, etc. that are supposed to protect them? The husband's diabetes? Who pays for the "health care" that these workers desperately deserve? TAXED workers do, that's who! None of these questions were raised.. this film is mediocre, at best.