Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

hoxjennifer Maria, Full of Grace is a powerful and realistic portrayal of the drug problem in Columbia during the early 2000's. Set at first in a small village apparently not far from Bogota, Maria Alvarez is a 17 year old girl who works in a flower plantation to support her mother, her grandmother, and her un-employed sister and her baby. She has a boyfriend, Juan, who seemingly is only interested in her for sex and is someone who she herself is not in love with. Maria looks towards the sky when she is intimate with Juan - probably because she knows that somewhere, there is a better life for her.After an argument with her boss, and the realization that she herself is pregnant by Juan, Maria needs to find a new job. The charismatic and charming Felipe, whom she met at a social event, offers her a job as a drug mule swallowing cocaine pellets and smuggling them into New York City. Maria manages to swallow 62 pellets and get into the US, but once there, she realizes the magnitude of the risks she is facing. Catalina Sandino Moreno does a wonderful job playing Maria - her facial expressions and mannerisms compliment well the words that Maria does say - although not a super talkative person, what she does say is powerful on its own, such as when she asks Juan why he would marry someone he doesn't love. The plot is simple, there are no added distractions that take away from the story itself and that is what helps makes this film so well executed. It draws you in and does what it is intended to do - show you the other side of drug trafficking that we in the West are not always exposed to - the people who decide to get involved in the first place.

Nicole C This film was well made with a good storyline, and acting, though it does seem like the reality of it is toned down a bit. For example the border officers who question Maria at the airport seem pretty comforting and not at all intimidating which I had the impression they would be. There are other instances as well where I felt that Maria had it easy, but I don't want to spoil anything.The acting is pretty great with Catalina Moreno doing her part of a young, innocent girl trying to make fast hard cash without really knowing the consequences. There is also good chemistry between her and Guilied Lopez. Lopez is not in many scenes, but makes herself pretty memorable. Patricia Rae who plays Lopez's sister also does a great job. I find it interesting that it is never really shown that Maria regrets her decision to be a mule even when she escapes from the two men. It could be because her character is resilient and stubborn, but I would have thought a breakdown would be included. Perhaps this film was made for more American audiences, and so individualistic personality traits are favoured. This can definitely be seen in Maria as she acts rebellious and is her own person from the beginning of the film. However, because she does not regret her decision of being a mule, it implies that carrying drugs in your body across borders is OK since it is a means to an end. Just a thought. This film does not really critique the drug industry, at least not that I can think of (apart from the chance that you might die a horrific death or be sent to prison). But because the film ended the way it did, which is what makes me think that there isn't a strong critique of being a drug mule/of the drug industry in general. Overall a pretty engaging film that shows the intimate system of drug mules. It is interesting to note that two women in this film are pregnant, and pregnant women seem very common in crime films. I wonder why that is. Read more movie reviews at: championangels.wordpress.com

bbewnylorac As the Colombian drug mule Maria, Catalina Sandino Mareno perfectly portrays an intelligent but naive and impulsive girl who agrees to swallow pellets of drugs and fly to New York for a drug cartel. Joshua Marston's directing, the script and the actors' performances have such passion and empathy that it puts the audience right in their shoes. Yes, the film says, Maria makes an incredibly stupid choice to risk death or heavy punishment in doing this. To some extent she already knows this, but she soon learns all the very nasty consequences. You can feel her fear, of imminent death or arrest. But the film asks us to ask ourselves, what if you were her - facing lifelong poverty and mind numbing work and responsibility for your entire family in a third world country? There is no hope for advancement in life. Would you do the same? You're a pregnant teenager and you meet someone who will pay you a lot of money and take you to the US where everything (you imagine) will be wonderful. Maria's dominant feeling is choking fear, in many forms. It makes you think about the risks and sense of leaping blindly into the unknown that migrants must experience.

luciadoblesjimenez "Maria Full of Grace" Movie ReviewSPOILER ALERT The social problems faced in many of the Latin American countries are sometimes forgotten and ignored. In Columbia and in many of the Latin American countries social problems related to poverty are suffered. This movie "Maria Full of Grace", shows how poverty may lead one to a point where being a drug mule seems to be the only option. In Columbia a teenager, Maria, who is part of a lower class family, supports her family by working in a flower business where she is treated like a slave. She is fired and desperate to get a job, she accepts a job as a drug mule. The whole tragedy of this underworld business and job is shown in the movie. When Maria flies to New York all what seemed to be "an easier way of getting the money" in someway, turns out to be a total hell. The main character Maria Alvarez is played by Catalina Sandino, she does an outstanding job and even got nominated and won awards for the best actress. One of these awards from the Silver Berlin Bear. Maria (Catalina Sandino) is able through the whole movie to play her character with strength and naturally, the audience can hardly believe she is just acting this. It seems like she actually had to live this whole experience. Yenny Paola Vega plays the character of Blanca, who is Maria's close friend. She was able to do a good job playing her role she was able to make me feel all her fear. Wilson Guerrero plays Juan, who is Maria's boyfriend, he doesn't really act for a long time in the movie, but he was able to portray the attitude of man not being sensible. The only character I could feel unnatural and fake when acting was Carla, played by Patricia Rae. She shows a lot she is just acting I didn't feel she was able to make it feel real. One of the parts I felt the acting was clearly shown as unnatural was when they told her about Lucy's death her reaction, as a whole was clearly fake. The drug business boss, Javier (Jaime Osorio Gomez) did a very natural acting he was able to make me feel all the pressure. The movie was filmed with a clear and focused perspective to show about the drug social issue in Columbia, but I felt some important issues that could have been portrayed a little more where just shown quickly and superficially. I believe that it would have been interesting to show a little more about the oppression that Maria received because this is a very important fact, which leads her to an underworld job. Another topic I thought the movie doesn't focus as much as it should have is Maria being pregnant and the situation with Juan, I believe that was another important fact, which lead her to taking the path she took. Although I do believe they did an outstanding job with portraying the whole situation of being a drug mule and how that business works. I was able to feel all that horrible experience and the things that go on so close to me and sometimes I am not even aware of. The first thing I was able to learn by watching this movie is that sometimes criticizing is an easy way to take when you have never gone through a situation like the character. It is very easy in this movie for example to criticize her for not going to her friend and taking the job, instead of taking the "easy way" and becoming a drug mule. It is difficult to understand this tragic situation she was going through if you have never gone through a similar situation. It made me realize and remember that out there very close to me many people go through these situations and even worst. I think that if the person is from a Latin Americain country it will be like a wake up call that even people in your same country suffer this daily. If the person is from another part of the world I feel they will probably be very impact with this. People will probably find it hard to believe people work in such grotesque jobs , which seem like being in hell. This movie is definitely not a movie for anyone since it has some grotesque and difficult scenes, which may be disturbing. This movie in my opinion is for people who are at least 15 or 16 years old, but I think it all depends on the person's maturity and capacity to watch grotesque things. I would definitely not recommend this movie to anyone who has a hard time with seeing grotesque things. The MPAA rate I give this movie is definitely R because I believe that some scenes were pretty disturbing and I believe that it should be warn that is definitely not a movie for kids. The movie has scenes which depending on the person may become disturbing even to a point were that person can become horrified. The movie is very beautiful with very graphic scenes at some points, but definitely it has a message and is worth seeing. The movie will receive from me a rating of an A. Another way of classifying it is a 5 out of 5 stars. The reason is the moral lesson it presents is very deep and beautiful. The person who wrote this movie review is called Lucia Dobles. She goes to Lincoln School in Costa Rica and she is in freshmen school level. She loves to exercise and loves to watch movies. She is also pretty interested in nutrition and design areas.