Under the same Moon

This immigration film follows a nine-year-old Mexican boy as he travels from his native country to the United States in search of his mother who lives in Los Angeles. The young boy’s journey features many improbable events, from his being smuggled across the border by two young college students who have decided to become coyotes in order to earn college tuition to his working picking tomatoes and washing dishes, all of which takes place in a single week.

While the story is distinctly episodic, as is often the case with a quest or travel narrative, most of the adventures work. The film nicely straddles the line between informing the viewer of the various experiences of an immigrant and the more sentimentalized narrative of a young boy. While the film clearly aims to show immigrant experience, it moves in and around the clichés frequently touching on the expected elements in unexpected ways.

The film follows many of the conventions of sentimental films particularly in the love plot that that is centered on the mother. The combination of the improbable elements of the boys journey in the standard elements of the films emotional tropes, works surprisingly well to balance the film and keep it from being either pedantic or treacly.  Perhaps one of the most remarkable features of the film is the dialogue is almost entirely in Spanish. 

This grounds the story in the realm of immigrant experience.

Which isn't to say everything works. The plot has numerous defects that are obvious enough to distract from the content of the film. And the direction and technical elements are rather unsteady. Some of the shots that are attempted distract rather than complement or enhance the action.