Great movie. Writing anything more about this movie is simply superflous. The movie grips you from the first minute and is extremely realisitic. At no point do you need to suspend disbeleif. The lead character Catalina Sandino Moreno is without doubt one of the best actresses to light up the screen ever. (Ofcourse I do not know if she was briliantly cast as Maria, to find out if she is really good I guess I will have to watch more movies starring her). Maria is just about the most graceful 17 year old potrayed in movie. From her confrontation with her boyfriend who fathers her child but does not love her to demanding her wages from drug dealers in New York she never seems to lose it. The way her character is built up all that she does seems extremely natural. I really liked the end of the movie where she decides to stay in the US and raise her child my herself instead of running home to be surrounded by loving family members. All in all a brilliantly scripted, well directed excellent movie.