'Under the Same Moon' will tug at your heartstrings

ShareThis

If the presidential candidates ever take a break, they would benefit from watching "Under the Same Moon." Although based on a fictional story, it has the feel of truth and is a vivid reminder of the hell Mexicans put themselves through to live in the United States, even illegally."Moon" dramatizes a situation sadly familiar to countless Mexican families. Leaving their children behind, parents sneak across the border to find jobs that pay small fortunes compared with what they make at home. The characters in "Moon" are vividly drawn, and their plight does more to illuminate the problem of divided Mexican families than countless newspaper stories. The movie gets to you. It's a real tearjerker, earning the audience's emotions honestly rather than by manipulation. It's impossible not to care about the fate of the 9-year-old boy, Carlitos, at the center of the story because he's played by Adrian Alonson, the most adorable child actor since Abigail Breslin. He's a natural who never appears to be acting.Carlitos lives with his grandmother in a depressed Mexican town, while his mother, Rosario (Kate del Castillo), cleans houses in ritzy parts of Los Angeles and sends money back home. Every Sunday for the four years she's been gone, she's called Carlitos from a pay phone. At his urging, she describes her surroundings ("a pizza shop, a place that sells party goods") so he'll feel closer. There's a catch in del Castillo's voice when Rosario professes her love, one small way the movie tugs at your heartstrings.When his grandmother dies, Carlitos decides to go to L.A. and search for his mother. He meticulously cuts out her address from the envelope her monthly check arrived in. From this point on "Moon" becomes a road movie, with Carlitos hooking up with the wrong people, who put him in jeopardy, and the occasional right one. America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty" fame has a small role as a Mexican American who offers to help him across the Texas border seemingly out of kindness, although her monetary motives are soon exposed. She demands Carlitos' stash of American dollars before hiding him in a closed-up compartment under the back seat. You anxiously wait to hear if the boy is still breathing.Rosario's life in L.A. is interspersed with her son's perilous adventures. Structuring the script this way is problematic because all the action happens to Carlitos. Rosario has to deal with the high-maintenance ladies who employ her -- including one who cheats her out of her salary -- and with a man who desires to marry her and make her legal. But that can't compare with Carlitos being forced to run from immigration officials or an attempt to sell him into what appears to be a prostitution ring.First-time director Patricia Riggen moves seamlessly between the worlds of mother and son. A strong performance by del Castillo helps keep Rosario's part of the movie interesting. She plays her as a woman who hasn't soured on life despite her circumstances. You can see where Carlitos got his spirit.The two move toward one another throughout the movie. There's almost a gravitational pull. Aptly, the title comes from Rosario's advice to her son when he's lonely: Look at the moon because she'll be looking at the same moon.-- Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna)-- Drama--Starring: Adrian Alonson, Kate del Castillo and America Ferrera.-- Directed by Patricia Riggen.--In Spanish with English subtitles and in English.-- PG-13-- 109 minutes.-- Advisory: Adult story line.(E-mail Ruthe Stein at rstein(at)sfchronicle.com. (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)