Bread & Roses

Not a movie so much as a political soapbox advocating unionization and immigrant's rights, Ken Loach's Bread & Roses does an adequate job of building a moving story around a cast of bottom-rung workers ignored by the rich white folks whose offices they clean, while being exploited and mistreated by their employers. The problem arises with the selfish, ungrateful heroine, Maya (Pilar Padilla), whom we're supposed to embrace just because she makes minimum wage without benefits, one month after sneaking over the border. Since Maya has no respect for her sister (who helped her get into the country and put a roof over her head), however, and her organizing gets a college-bound friend fired, she ultimately comes across as simply too egocentric for us to care. Not recommended. (R. Blackwelder)