Casa de los Babys

Director John Sayles's reputation as an astute independent filmmaker slips even further after his last two failures ("Limbo" and "Sunshine State") in this splintered story about a group of six American women holed up in a Latin American hotel waiting for their own black market baby to adopt. Sayles barely scratches the surface of the social commentary he seems to want to emphasize by juggling too many sub-plots, and short-changing all of them in the process. The film stars Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Secretary"), Daryl Hannah ("Blade Runner"), Marcia Gay Harden ("Pollock"), Susan Lynch (Beautiful Creatures"), Mary Steenburgen ("Nixon") and Lili Taylor ("I Shot Andy Warhol"). "Casa de los Baby's" is a frustrating and tedious experience to endure.
Rated R. 95 mins. (D+) (One Star)