At this point in his career, the last thing his fans would expect director Ken Loach to make is a feel-good movie. And mind you, "Bread and Roses" only qualifies because of the usually downbeat nature of Loach's movies. (The majority of his later-period dramas have either ended with the main characters suffering through such tragedies as being imprisoned or being killed in a particularly horrible fashion.)
Still, despite the sometimes overwhelmingly depressing nature of his movies, Loach is a fine humanist filmmaker — one who seems to want his audiences to think about deeper concepts than they see in typically shallow Hollywood films.
"Bread and Roses," a racially and politically charged drama, is no exception. It's sometimes ham-fisted and corny — and the film's hard-line stance on some highly divisive issues may put off some audiences — but it's also surprisingly light in tone (at least for a Loach film) and just low-key enough.
Evidently, the title refers to the rather unrealistic expectations of illegal immigrants heading across the border from Mexico to Los Angeles. That's where Maya (Pilar Padilla) finds herself, and getting there is a struggle.
Luckily, Maya's already got a place to stay, with her sister, Rosa (Elpidia Carrillo), who has set up a job for Maya as a waitress. However, she'd rather be working with Rosa, who's employed by a cleaning company that services a downtown high-rise.
So Maya uses her charms to land a job there. Maya is a hard worker, but she rankles some of her new co-workers when she befriends Sam (Adrien Brody), an activist trying to get the workers unionized, which is not as easy at it initially seems. Maya's boss (comedian George Lopez) is on the lookout, and he is canning anyone even suspected of being in collusion with union organizers. What's more, some of her colleagues — including Rosa — are questioning her motives for helping Sam.
Although screenwriter Paul Laverty's plotting sometimes strains credibility, Loach and a very good cast make it work. And while screen veteran Carrillo (from "Salvador") and Brody are solid, Padilla's performance may be more astonishing, considering the actress had very limited English-speaking skills before beating out others for the role.
"Bread and Roses" is rated R for frequent use of strong profanity, violence (riot suppression), use of crude sexual slang terms, brief shots of full male nudity and scattered use of racial epithets. Running time: 106 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com