Ken Loach's kitchen-sink drama about the hardships of illegal aliens under the thumb of exploitative employers is driven by excellent performances, particularly the three leads. Pilar Padilla and Elpidia Carillo give bravura portrayals of long-suffering Mexican sisters in L.A.; Maya (Padilla) is feisty and cunning, while her self-sacrificing older sister Rosa (Carillo) has grown resigned to her own and her family's lot in life. As Sam Shapiro, a labor activist who helps Maya and her fellow Hispanic janitors in a high-rise office building to form a union, Adrien Brody's blend of earnestness and mischief really livens up this well-meaning, often moving, occasionally didactic film. Brody's beard and bedhead make him look especially cuddly; no wonder the engaging Padilla eventually drags him into a closet for some hot and heavy nookie! :-) (My husband also remarked that all that hair made Brody's prominent proboscis look, well, less prominent -- not that Brody's noble nose ever bothered me, thank you very much! :-).