The Perez Family

The Perez Family is an American comedy film released in 1995 about a group of Cuban refugees in America who pretend to be a family. It stars Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina, Anjelica Huston, Chazz Palminteri, and other well-known actors. It was based on the 1990 novel The Perez Family by Christine Bell. The film was directed by Mira Nair.

For the Mexican film, see The Perez Family (1949 film).
The Perez Family
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMira Nair
Screenplay byRobin Swicord
Based onThe Perez Family
1990 novel
by Christine Bell
Produced byJulia Chasman
Robin Swicord
Starring
CinematographyStuart Dryburgh
Edited byRobert Estrin
Greg Finton
Music byAlan Silvestri
Distributed byThe Samuel Goldwyn Company
Release dates
  • May 12, 1995 (1995-05-12) (U.S.)
  • August 23, 1995 (1995-08-23) (UK)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$11,000,000 (estimated)
Box office$2,832,826

The premise was that a group of unrelated people, who happened to share the last name "Pérez", realized they could more easily stay in America if they pretended to be family. Set in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift, the movie shows Juan Raúl Pérez (Alfred Molina), a former aristocrat and newly released political prisoner, seeking to return to his wife, now in America, after 20 years. Dottie Pérez (Marisa Tomei) is a former prostitute, who Juan meets. U.S. Immigration officials assume the two are married, because of the common last name. The potential for a real romantic relationship between the couple sets the basis for much of the rest of the film.

Cast

Selective cast listing:

Archival footage of Jimmy Carter and Fidel Castro also appeared in the film.

Reception

The Perez Family holds a "Fresh" score of 60% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.0/10, based on 20 reviews.[1]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack composed by Alan Silvestri was released by Music Box Records, paired with his score for Clean Slate.

References
  1. "The Perez Family". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
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