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GOING ON 30: After Jenna Rink's 13th birthday party where her friend
Lucy plays a cruel prank on her, she promptly makes a wish that she
could skip adolescence and be 30. With the help of some wish dust given
to her by her unpopular best friend Matty, her wish comes true. She
wakes up to find that her 13-year-old self is now inhabiting the
body--and life--of a 30-year-old, high-powered, New York magazine
editor. Frightened by her new adult life, Jenna (Jennifer Garner) seeks
the help of Matty (Mark Ruffalo), but he hasn't spoken to her since high
school. Unfortunately, as she uncovers the details of the time she
skipped, she learns that perhaps she hasn't made the best decisions.
MAID IN MANHATTAN: Director Wayne Wang (THE JOY LUCK CLUB, SMOKE)
updates the familiar Cinderella story in this charming romantic comedy.
Jennifer Lopez stars as Marissa Ventura, a beautiful young woman who
divides her time between her precocious son Ty (Tyler Posey) and her
housekeeping duties at The Beresford, an upscale Manhattan hotel. When
the boyish and affluent politician Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes)
shares an amusing elevator ride with Ty, he subsequently meets Marissa.
As luck would have it, Marissa is mischievously sporting an exotic Dolce
& Gabbana gown belonging to another Beresford tenant, and is
mistaken by Christopher as a guest of the hotel. The two undeniably hit
it off, but Marissa is unable to reveal her working-class secret, afraid
of losing her job. Christopher is completely smitten and makes numerous
attempts to locate her, despite the comedic fact she is often right
under his nose. While the film is always lighthearted and fun, it does
not shy away from foregrounding race and class issues, devoting much
screen time to Marissa's coworkers and their struggles to survive. As a
rags-to-riches fairy tale, MAID IN MANHATTAN hits all the right notes.