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Live-In Maid
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 8 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Jorge Gaggero
Directed by: Jorge Gaggero
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 18, 2007
DVD: December 4, 2007
Running Time: 83 minutes, Color
Origin: Argentina / Spain
Language(s): Spanish
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Norma Aleandro, Norma Argentina, Marcos Mundstock, Claudia Lapacó, Elsa Berenguer, Monica Gonzaga, Hilda Bernard, and Susana Lanteri
Dora (51) is the maid of Mrs. Beba (59) and has worked and lived with her for 35 years. Beba used to be a well-to-do socialite but successive economic and personal crises have worn her out, reducing her to a purveyor of decadence. Nowadays she finds herself forced to sell door-to-door beauty products. And she owes Dora six months of salary. Dora, tired of listening to Beba’s promises of payment, is now determined to resign. Beba asks her for more time to get the money together. Dora accepts. During this period Beba tries to mine the confidence of Dora, discouraging her not to venture into a new phase of her life. Though doomed by class prejudices and abusive power codes there is also a bond cemented by mutual love from three decades of living together. Finally, Beba gets the money to cancel the debt and offers some cash in advance to make her maid stay. But Dora has already made up her mind. (Aqua Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site View the Trailer
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
What Live-in Maid offers is a pitch-perfect observation of life on a continent where forms are adhered to, distances aren't really kept, and your best friend is the person who knows to pour the cheap domestic whiskey into the empty bottle of imported stuff before your bridge buddies show up to judge you.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Live-In Maid is a lived-in movie. Its cataclysms may be small in scale, but the movie brings us so far into these women's lives that a shattered cup creates an earthquake.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
A vivid portrait of a society in the midst of wrenching change, but it transcends its immediate context to become a thoughtful, even unforgettable, chamber piece, performed with exquisite subtlety by two fine actresses.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter James Greenberg
Powered by two first-rate performances, Jorge Gaggero's debut feature is full of psychological nuance and keen social observation.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Modest in scope, but it feels complete, fully inhabited, in a way that more overtly ambitious movies rarely do.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Weary and overworked to her very bones, Dora nevertheless has a heart of gold and a spine of steel. The movie does, too.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Steve Winn
A modest chamber piece enriched by its affecting human harmonies and overtones.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Quite easily Live-in Maid could have descended into a kind of Joan Crawford-Bette Davis gorgon salute. But everyone here seems way too smart for that, though apparently the movie is being prepped for an English-language version. So beware.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
A fine Argentinean film with English subtitles.
Read Full Review >Variety Deborah Young
A fairly successful attempt at satire, though given the subject, there's a lot of darkness under the carpet.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
Live-In Maid's premise would be ideal for a play, or a bravura performance piece like Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant."
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Hugh R gave it a9:
A great dark-social comedy with an illuminated soul and powerful actresses.
annette g gave it a10:
exquisite insights into the hearts of two women who, despite social and economic pressures, deeply understand each other's fight to survive.
