Maid in Manhattan is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Wayne Wang about a hotelmaid and a high profile politician

who fall in love starring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, andNatasha Richardson. It is based on a story by John Hughes who is credited using apseudonym. The original music score is composed by Alan Silvestri. The film was released on December 13, 2002. Synopsis

Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez) is a single mother trying to get by with her young son Ty (Tyler Posey) by working as a maid for a classy hotel set in the heart of Manhattan. When not in school Ty spends time among Marisas fellow hotel workers who think she is capable of being promoted to management. While Marisa and fellow maid Stephanie (Marissa Matrone) are cleaning the room of a socialite, Stephanie convinces Marisa to try on a coat. The guest, Caroline Lane (Natasha Richardson), had previously asked for it to be returned to the store and Stephanie argues that it technically doesnt belong to anyone at the moment. Elsewhere in the hotel Ty befriends hotel guest and senatorial candidate Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes), whom Christopher learns has an interest in Richard Nixon, the subject of his school presentation. Ty wants to go with Chris to walk his dog and the pair go to Caroline Lanes room to ask Marisa for permission. Chris meets Marisa who is wearing the designer coat and assumes that she is Caroline Lane. The trio spend some time together in the park. Though Marisa and Chris are attracted to each other, Marisa is terrified that management will find out about the ruse and makes it a point to avoid Chris afterwards. Chris asks the hotels head butler Lionel Bloch (Bob Hoskins) to invite Caroline Lane to lunch but he is confused when the real Caroline shows up instead of Marisa. Ironically Marisa was present when she received the invitation and even offered Caroline some advice on what to wear for their Lunch deux. However when the real Caroline shows up, Chris asks his assistant Jerry Siegal (Stanley Tucci) to find the other Caroline Lane promising that he will attend an important dinner and wishes her go with him. Jerry asks Lionel to find her. Lionel, who has figured out that Marisa is the woman Chris has been looking for, tells her to go to the dinner and end the affair swiftly if she wants to keep her possible future in hotel management. He and the hotel staff assist her in preparing for the evening by styling her hair, loaning her an expensive dress and a spectacular necklace. However, Marisa is unable to end the affair, and she spends the night in Chris's hotel room. The next morning, Marisa is spotted by the real Caroline Lane and her friend leaving Chris' room. Caroline blurts out the truth to the hotel management and Marisa is fired in front of Chris in Lanes hotel suite. Both Marisa and Chris spend some time apart with him still thinking about her and Marisa hounded by the press and her disapproving classist mother Veronica (Priscilla Lopez). Some time later, Marisa has obtained another job as a maid at another hotel. Chris is giving a press conference in the same hotel and Ty attends it and asks Chris whether people should be forgiven if they make mistakes referencing former President Richard Nixon. Ty leads him to the staffroom where Marisa is having her break. Chris and Marisa are reunited and the film ends with images of publications showing that Chris has been elected, he and Marisa are still together after one year, Marisa has started her own hospitality business, and Marisas maid friends have been promoted to management. [edit]Production notes

Filming was carried out at both New York's Roosevelt Hotel and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

[edit]Similarity to 1935 film Although never cited in the onscreen credits or in any supplemental material by the producers or writers, the basic premise of a luxury hotel maid being mistaken for a famous hotel guest after being seen wearing clothes that were meant for someone else was explored earlier in the 1935 Warner Bros. comedy, Page Miss Glory. Maid in Manhattan's writer John Hughes' original title for the story was The Chambermaid, [edit]Cast
[2][3]

which is what Marion Davies's character is called in Page Miss Glory.

              

Jennifer Lopez - Marisa Ventura Ralph Fiennes - Christopher Marshall Natasha Richardson - Caroline Lane Stanley Tucci - Jerry Siegal Tyler Posey - Ty Ventura Frances Conroy - Paula Burns Chris Eigeman - John Bextrum Amy Sedaris - Rachel Hoffman Marissa Matrone - Stephanie Kehoe Priscilla Lopez - Veronica Ventura Bob Hoskins - Lionel Bloch Lisa Roberts Gillan - Cora Maddie Corman - Leezette Sharon Wilkins - Clarice Di Quon - Lily Kim

Wayne Wang

[1]

(born January 12, 1949) is a Chinese American film director.

Wang was born and raised in Hong Kong, and named after his father's favorite movie star, John Wayne. When he was 17, he moved to the United States with the intention of studying towards eventually entering medical school, but Wang changed his mind and ended up in the arts, and television at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.
[3] [2] [2]

studying film

Chan Is Missing (1982) and Dim Sum:

A Little Bit of Heart (1985) established his reputation. He is best known for The Joy Luck Club (1993), Maid in Manhattan (2002), and the independent featuresSmoke (1995) and Anywhere but Here (1999). At the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, Wang premiered two feature films, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and The Princess of Nebraska,[4] as well as appearing in the Arthur Dong documentary film Hollywood Chinese.
[5]

He won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September 2007 for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. He is married to a former Miss Hong Kong, Cora Miao, and lives in San Francisco and New York City.

I think its safe to say that everyone going to see J.Lo's latest release, Maid in Manhattan, pretty much knows what to expect: Single, working-class mom from the Bronx gets mixed up in Cinderella circumstances with charming (even prince-like) politician. Dressed up in someone else's wardrobe, at first he takes her for a princess, but loves her anyway when the time comes to rescue her from her drudgery.

As fluffy and formulaic as it is, sometimes this is all we ladies wanta romantic little fairy-tale to share with our girlfriends or the husband who owes us for sitting through the latest Steven Segal debacle. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to enjoy this movie under said criteria, the story line was just too 1950s for me to take seriously. Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that a good Cinderella story, ala Working Girl and Pretty Woman (both of which this film is being compared to), can always be updated for a new audience. But the operative word here is update, something screenwriter Kevin Wade doesn't bother with at all.

Jennifer Lopez plays Marisa Ventura, a maid in a ritzy New York hotel who dreams of management, but fears her ethnic background will keep her from ever realizing her ambitions.Ralph Fiennes is the Republican Senatorial candidate who must overcome the prejudices of his campaign manager (Stanley Tucci) to win his blue-collar dream girl. Honestly, this reliance on ethnicity as both a professional and personal obstacle for Marisa comes off not only as lazy, but also inappropriate for today's political and romantic world.

It seems to me that if a woman as smart as Marisa were passed over simply because of her race or housekeeping status, she would certainly know who to contact in the HR department to file a complaint. Similarly, if Fiennes's campaign manager really can't see what a political boon it would be for a Republican to fall for a struggling, single mom, then he needs to be fired and immediately sent back to whatever publicity playpen he toddled out of. Anyone with even the least bit of political savvy would surely know how to spin such a situation into a PR goldmine. These may not be issues that would trouble everyone, but for me, this silly, outdated plot translated to an hour and a half of almost straight boredom (pretty clothes and Harry Winston jewels not withstanding).

Also, while both Lopez and Fiennes turn in adequate performances, very few sparks build between them, so, of course, the obligatory sex scene is thrown in to convince us they really are falling in love. It goes without saying this is not the kind of lie our teenagers once again need reinforced to them. So moms, if you do take a Christmas shopping break with your daughters to see this one, I would make sure to point out how drastically this worldly version of love differs from our Christian one.

For a far more entertaining afternoon out, you might consider Sweet Home Alabama. It too has some moral problems with its endorsement of homosexuality, but the main characters' relationship relies on a much deeper

foundation, and Reese Witherspoon experiences some growing pains that could provide good lessons for young women. Overall, Maid in Manhattan is simply your average, run of the mill romantic comedy, with very little to make it more than a renter on a slow Saturday night.

Year of Release2002

The hazels (Corylus) are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,[1][2][3][4] though some botanists split the hazels (with the hornbeams and allied genera) into a separate family Corylaceae.[5][6]

Leaves and nuts of Turkish Hazel: note the spiny involucres (husks) surrounding the nuts

They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins. The flowers are produced very early in spring before the leaves, and are monoecious, with single-sex catkins, the male pale yellow and 512 cm long, the female very small and largely concealed in the buds, with only the bright red 13 mm long styles visible. The seeds are nuts 12.5 cm long and 12 cm diameter, surrounded by an involucre (husk) which partly to fully encloses the nut.[3] The shape and structure of the involucre, and also the growth habit (whether a tree or a suckering shrub), are important in the identification of the different species of hazel.[3]