Review for Milagro's Calling by Script Secrets, following 2001 screening at the Raindance Film Festival:
Charming little film about this ugly urban street corner in London - garbage, a hooker, gangs, some run down businesses... and a battered, filthy phone booth.
Milagro (a plump Indian woman) shows up with her bag and begins scrubbing the phone booth top-to-bottom. She takes all of the massage ads stuck on the wall and puts them in a nice leather binder labelled "Business numbers". She puts fresh cut flowers in the booth. She puts a little container for change - in case you're short a dime. She turns the corner phone booth into the brightest spot in the neighbourhood! Then, the neighbourhood follows suit... the businesses begin cleaning up, making repairs, and the two business owners are finally seen wearing suits (funny - these guys are NOT candidates for the cover of GQ), the hooker wears a pretty dress... and falls in love with a cleaned up gang member! Soon, the whole corner is wonderful... and there's this fantastic musical number where all of these characters dance.
Which attracts the police. They throw Milagro in jail for defacing the phone booth (by cleaning it). Last shot - Milagro in the holding cell opens her bag and starts cleaning up the jail. You just KNOW there will eventually be a big musical number with prisoners! One of those fun little movies that puts a smile on your face.
Charming little film about this ugly urban street corner in London - garbage, a hooker, gangs, some run down businesses... and a battered, filthy phone booth.
Milagro (a plump Indian woman) shows up with her bag and begins scrubbing the phone booth top-to-bottom. She takes all of the massage ads stuck on the wall and puts them in a nice leather binder labelled "Business numbers". She puts fresh cut flowers in the booth. She puts a little container for change - in case you're short a dime. She turns the corner phone booth into the brightest spot in the neighbourhood! Then, the neighbourhood follows suit... the businesses begin cleaning up, making repairs, and the two business owners are finally seen wearing suits (funny - these guys are NOT candidates for the cover of GQ), the hooker wears a pretty dress... and falls in love with a cleaned up gang member! Soon, the whole corner is wonderful... and there's this fantastic musical number where all of these characters dance.
Which attracts the police. They throw Milagro in jail for defacing the phone booth (by cleaning it). Last shot - Milagro in the holding cell opens her bag and starts cleaning up the jail. You just KNOW there will eventually be a big musical number with prisoners! One of those fun little movies that puts a smile on your face.