Maid in Manhattan

Can a wealthy Republican politician find happiness with a chambermaid from the Bronx? One man is about to find out, though he hardly realizes it at first, in this romantic comedy from director Wayne Wang . Marisa Ventura ( Jennifer Lopez ) is a single mother who is raising her gifted but under-confident son Ty ( Tyler Garcia Posey ) on her own, with some help from her mother Veronica ( Priscilla Lopez ), after divorcing her husband. Marisa works as a housekeeper at the exclusive Beresford Hotel in Manhattan, where her boss Paula Burns ( Frances Conroy ) and chief butler Lionel Bloch ( Bob Hoskins ) urge Marisa and her best friend and fellow maid Stephanie ( Marissa Matrone ) to be as efficient and inconspicuous as possible. One day, while cleaning the room of noted socialite Caroline Lane ( Natasha Richardson ), Stephanie spies a beautiful designer gown and dares Marisa to try it on; against her better judgment, she does, and while all dolled up, she bumps into Chris Matthew ( Ralph Fiennes ), a wealthy and well-bred bachelor who is running for the Senate. Immediately charmed, Chris asks Marisa to join him for a walk in Central Park, assuming she's the blue-blooded Caroline. Marisa manages to join Chris for the afternoon, with Ty in tow, and Chris finds himself quite taken with Marisa's beauty and down-to-earth personality, as well as Ty's precocious interest in politics. Chris later calls Caroline's room to set up a lunch date, but soon discovers the stuffy Ms. Lane is not the woman he met before. Marisa is also attracted to Chris, but while her friends encourage her to pursue a romance, Veronica believes her daughter is asking for trouble by trying to win a man so far out of her social strata. The supporting cast also includes Stanley Tucci and Amy Sedaris . — Mark Deming