"The Perez Family" can't decide what it wants to be--a romance, a comedy, or a historical documentation of a period. The story comes from a novel about Cuban refugees--and maybe the novel was effective--but this rendition of the story is undermined by a confusing tone. It seems to move from tragedy to comedy to the surreal with such alacrity and little sense of purpose that the entire film feels inconsequential.

All of the actors do a fine job. But they are given a script that devalues their performances. Marisa Tomei, in particular, gives a sensual performance that is just tossed away by the schizophrenic narrative. In the end, "The Perez Family" feels populated by caricatures.

Within this film, I think there are the beginnings of a solid serious film. And a lighthearted comedy. And a sensual love story. But misdirection, bad editing and/or bad writing have mashed them all together into a lump of confusion.

I do think it is possible to blend comedy, tragedy and more in one film. For a surreal, artistic, symbolistic example (that is even a musical), see Francis Ford Coppola's "One From the Heart". When I think how well some of the "Perez" characters could fit into a story like that, it reinforces my disappointment of this film.

There are parts of this film that could be very striking if they were within a coherent story. Too bad.