The Perez Family (1995)

This is a cute little film starring Marisa Tomei (Wild Hogs, My Cousin Vinny) and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, Frida) as Cubans who came over on the Marial boat lift in the 80s.Juan Raul Perez (Molina) is married to Carmela (Anjelica Huston), who came to America 20 years previous while Juan languished in a Cuban prison. He is stuck in an immigration facility with Dorita Evita Perez (Tomei), who is not related to him, but pretends to be his wife so they can get out. They even pick up a father and a son in their attempt at freedom.While Juan is trying to escape and reunite with Carmela, her brother, Angel (Diego Wallraff) is trying to keep them apart. Further complicating the adventure is a cop, Lt. John Pirelli (Chazz Palminteri), who is falling in love with Carmela.It is a sweet little comedy that Tomei does so well and worth spending some time with.

I love this movie. I remember I was seeing a play "Ragtime" and I wondered if an immigration movie/play existed that was not incredibly depressing and then I remembered "The Perez Family". It's like that excercise where a shrink tells the husband to pretend he's interested in sex with his wife and then it the feelings actually occur. Here they pretend to be a family to get through immigration and then they actually do begin to care for one another and be like a true family.I also loved how it could get a little surealistic at moments. For example when they first arrive in the Oragebowl and Juan fears they're gonna be shot and then they are suddenly surrounded by a laughing crowd. Or the moment Juan sees his wife kissing the cop and as he crushes the photo we see a red stain appear over his heart. That was so subtle I only caught it with repeated vewings. The soundtrach even is simpally amazing. And yes Marisa Tomei has never been hotter! ;-)I also loved a lot of the minor roles such as the Indian immigration official who clearly realizes what's going on and clearly doesn't care. I loved that little sarcastic eyeroll he does when he talks about, "Cowboys . . . and Indians!"Overall it's just such a sweet heartwarming film which is such a change from the usual "the more depressing the more deep and artistic" immigration film. Sure some of it was pretty silly, coincidental, and over the top but "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" wasn't?

Alfred Molina and Marisa Tomei head up the cast of this pleasant romantic comedy about a former political prisoner and a former sugar cane farmer who leave Cuba for the United States in 1980 on what I presume to be the famous Marielle Boat Lift that brought Cuban exiles to the states (although the boat looks much smaller than it did in 'Before Night Falls'). Having the same last name, the man and the bouyant young woman pose as husband and wife (and later members of an extended Perez family) in order to gain a sponsor who will give them a place to stay and some kind of work.But, Juan (Molina) is expecting to be reunited with his wife (Angelica Houston) and grown daughter (Trini Alvarado). His traitor brother-in-law, who was responsible for the twenty years he spent in that dreadful prison, comes to the dock looking for Juan, but is told by the guard that Juan and his wife already passed through. So, Angel (the brother-in-law) is under the assumption that Juan remarried and broke his sister's heart, and now he tells his sister to forget about him. Juan, in the meantime, has no idea about the misunderstanding, but longs to be reunited with his family.However, along the way, Juan and Dorita (Marisa Tomei in a fantastic performance) build a friendship, and eventually, fall in love for each other. And his wife (Houston) similarly finds a relationship with a charming cop (Chez Palminterri). Juan and his wife, after so many years apart and finding satisfaction and closeness in relationship, they find it hard to rekindle what they once had. It isn't that they're being disloyal to each other. Despite being married, they had been away from each for more than twenty years and could not just pick up where they left off.It is a pleasant romantic comedy and has some very funny moments as well as an excellent cast, particularly Marisa Tomei, who pretty much drives the whole movie as the young Cuban female who tries to create a close family (with others similarly named Perez) and searching out something like an "American Dream."

Marisa Tomei is wonderful! There is a scene it which she is kneeling down in the water just as her boat arrives at Key West which is as sexy with cloth9ing as anything nude I've ever seen. ALfred Molina is great as the confused political prisoner.The story begins as Alfred Molina sends his family off to America during a crackdown of the Cuban Communists. The former dictator Batista was very kind to capitalists. The country appeared to flourish but there was much poverty. Fidel Castro came to power and many of his political opponents were jailed or killed. Marisa Tomei is a young worker in the sugar cane fields. News was difficult to come by there. When she gets to the U.S. she doesn't even know that John Wayne has died. (One of her great desires is to have sex with him) Late in his administration President Carter declared an open door policy to anyone that was able to escape Cuba. As a result, Castro cleared his jails and hospitals of many criminals and insane people. It is in the midst of THIS that Marisa and Alfred meet. He as a released political prisoner trying to find the family he'd already sent to America years earlier, she as a poor worker trying to get to a better life. In the confusion of the long line at immigration and in order to get placed with a sponsor more quickly she claims him as her husband and an old man as her father in law.For those of us who's families have been here long enough that we don't remember immigration this movie is a great reminder of why so many people have wanted to come here over the years. You really can't go wrong with this...I bought it on recommendation of a friend and watch it a couple of times a year. It is among my personal top 10.