88
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Will this movie change anything, or this review make you want to see it? No, probably not. But when you come in tomorrow morning, someone will have emptied your wastebasket.
Bread and Roses
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- United Kingdom,
- France,
- Germany,
- Spain,
- Italy,
- Switzerland
- 2000
- · 110m
Director
Ken Loach
Cast
Pilar Padilla,
Adrien Brody,
Jack McGee,
Monica Rivas,
Frankie Davila,
Lillian Hurst
Genre
Comedy,
Drama
Maya is a quick-witted young woman who comes over the Mexican border without papers and makes her way to the LA home of her older sister Rosa. Rosa gets Maya a job as a janitor: a non-union janitorial service has the contract, the foul-mouthed supervisor can fire workers on a whim, and the service-workers' union has assigned organizer Sam Shapiro to bring its "justice for janitors" campaign to the building. Sam finds Maya a willing listener, she's also attracted to him. Rosa resists, she has an ailing husband to consider. The workers try for public support; management intimidates workers to divide and conquer. Rosa and Maya as well as workers and management may be set to collide.
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What are critics saying?
75
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
Socially alert drama.
70
L.A. Weekly by John Patterson
There are scenes here that fill one with rage or bring tears to the eyes.
70
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
Bread and Roses" hits home when one of Maya's co-workers observes, "When we put on uniforms, we become invisible." It's a truth as uncomfortable as it is undeniable.
70
The New York Times by Dana Stevens
He plies his viewers with plenty of bread -- chewy and, to some tastes, dry and starchy scenes -- but he also scatters petals of whimsy and delight to nourish the senses.
67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Sean Axmaker
It's a passionate film powered by the righteous anger of injustice.
63
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
As is often the case in Loach's films, all the acting is exemplary. Padilla, who learned English only shortly before making the film, is a natural actress, a smoldering presence.
50
New York Magazine (Vulture) by Peter Rainer
Loach has gotten hold of a marvelous subject -- the invisibility of the working poor in the environs of the rich -- that keeps you watching despite all the banner-waving.
50
Slate by David Edelstein
The director's knee-jerk anti-capitalism often sticks in my (white, well-fed) craw.
30
Variety by Todd McCarthy
Its politics and dramatic line are familiar and far from convincing.
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