Very well executed

Too much of everything

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Illegals are brought in over the border. They are quickly put to work. Maya has to escape from lecherous coyotes. Her sister Rosa gets her a non-union janitor job under dictatorial supervisor Perez (George Lopez). Union man Sam Shapiro (Adrien Brody) is pushing to organize and Rosa is hostile. Sam does a presentation for the workers and later Perez finds out.Adrien Brody needs to be more likable in this movie but he is too cold to the workers' concerns. He is also kinda bad at his job. He has nothing to lose but he asks these workers to risk everything. In a way, he's more annoying than the George Lopez character. The workers are the compelling characters. Digging deeper on some of those characters could be more effective.

You have to admire good, worthy Ken Loach. Always admirable in motive and honest depiction, he is Britain's true indie maverick.However, when he moved this production and story to L.A., even I felt a bit cheated and I'm sure a few lost allegiance for the director. But, just because it (at least at first) seems to lacks the kaleidoscope of colourful characters that we can identify with when he's shooting on home soil, it's about the people and in this case, Mexican workers employed illegally by a large non-union contractor as office cleaners.I've heard of Americans requiring subtitles in order to decipher a thick Glaswegian accent and here we experience lots of subtitles, as much of the dialogue, from a largely amateur cast, is in Spanish. We, who're used to such soon get used to this but it's all a slight barrier and uphill struggle before we feel submersed into the story.The story itself won't be recited around campfires for years to come and the dialogue is more of your typical bitty everyday conversation than the lovingly crafted screenplays that win awards. The filming, often in similar looking corridors and offices hardly allows for creativity either, but as Mr Loach is the nearest we have to the simplistic approach to the Scandinavian 'Dogme' movement, this comes as no surprise.A charismatic Adrien Brody drops his Oscar winning stature to play a 'Justice For Janitors' unionist and at first we see him hiding around workplaces where he is definitely not welcome. He soon gets on the case of two young women, recently taken on as cleaners but have families to support.Like more locally grown Loach's, there's lots of often grating arguing, raised voices, splashes of humour plus that all-important social message. We, or at least I, perhaps wrongly, however, cannot quite warm to the campaign as much as I do with a British Ken Loach film and like the characters themselves, feel somewhat alienated from both them and their plight.So, far from Ken's best but still not bad.

I just recently watched the latest attempt from Hollywood to ease their minds about Latino issues. "Walkout" is an HBO movie that takes a historic moment in the struggle for equality and makes an "after school" special out of it. On the other hand "Bread & Roses" delivers in every front, a good story with candid acting and a solid structure. The back drop is similar. Minorities confronted with discrimination and racism must come together to force change. A basic rule of good writing calls for a story of universal value and this one resonates beyond it's outline, because the story of the immigrant in this country is everybody's story. "Bread & Roses" doesn't preach and it doesn't dumb down the intricate subtext of the story, most of all it takes the characters seriously and never uses them as just background to carry on. HBO must remember that it takes more than a Latino surname in the credits to make a Latino story resonate. "Bread & Roses" relays on the elements that are true to good film making without having to label it. Always respect your story.

I am a member of United Food & Commercial Workers. The first time I saw this movie was August 23, 2004 at a youth conference. This is one of the best union movies I have seen. I was in Montreal this summer at a convention and we all sang the song as well. The movie is very moving and gives a very powerful perspective on what happens at some strikes and also what happens when workers find out you are trying to organize the workplace. Organizing is when you try and get the workplace unionized. As a female, I am truly amazed at the fight these women put up with to become unionized. I personally have been touched by Bread & Roses and I know many fellow union members who have been as well.