Maid In Manhattan Review

"Cinderella" gets a twenty-first-century make over in "Maid In Manhattan," the latest formula romantic comedy to come out of the Hollywood sausage factory. Pop diva turned actress turned the future Mrs Affleck Jennifer Lopez is the eponymous Manhattan maid of the title, a young woman working in a swish New York hotel who one day tries on one of the beautiful frocks of one of the beautiful people staying there (Natasha Richardson). Of course, through an unlikely series of mishaps, she's soon walking a dog through Central Park alongside Senatorial candidate Ralph Fiennes, a man who believes her to be the owner of the dress and a guest staying at another suite in the hotel. He falls head over heels, while she has to run back to make a few more beds.

As ever with this kind of movie your ability to engage in some 'willing suspension of disbelief' is pushed to the max (all of the ensuing complications and confusion could be avoided if J-Lo simply 'fessed up). However maybe it's too much to really expect sparkling originality from a movie such as this where, to be fair, we all know exactly what to expect before we even hand over our hard-earned cash at the box office. And while Ms Lopez and Mr Fiennes may not have the on screen chemistry of a Julie Roberts and Richard Gere - or even a Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant - "Maid In Manhattan" ultimately does do exactly what it says on the tin and provides would be paramours with a safe and reliable date movie.