''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 Marisa Tomei ( , ; born December 4, 1964) is an American actress. She came to prominence as a cast member on ''The Cosby Show'' spin-off ''A Different World'' in 1987. After having minor roles in a few films, she came to international attention ...

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British-American actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Pla ...

Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress and director. Known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as no ...

Chazz Palminteri Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (born May 15, 1952)
Chazzpalminteri.net. Retrieved on November 19, 2013. is an American ...

, and other well-known actors. It was based on the 1990 novel ''

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 w ...

'' () by Christine Bell. The film was directed by

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural sphe ...

. 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 Mariel boatlift () was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between 15 April and 31 October 1980. The term "" (plural "Marielitos") is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and En ...

, the movie shows Juan Raúl Pérez (

), a former aristocrat and newly released political prisoner, seeking to return to his wife, now in America, after 20 years. Dottie Pérez (

) 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: *

- Dorita Evita Pérez *

- Juan Raúl Pérez *

- Carmela Pérez *

Chazz Palminteri Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (born May 15, 1952)
Chazzpalminteri.net. Retrieved on November 19, 2013. is an American ...

- Lt. John Pirelli *

Trini Alvarado Trinidad "Trini" Alvarado (born January 10, 1967) is an American actress best known for her performances as Margaret "Meg" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel ''Little Women'' and Lucy Lynskey in the comedy/horror fi ...

- Teresa Pérez *

Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during t ...

- Luz Pat *

Ranjit Chowdhry Ranjit Chowdhry (19 September 1955 – 15 April 2020) was an Indian character actor, known for his roles in television, movies, and theatre. He appeared in two episodes of ''The Office'', as Vikram, a telemarketer who worked with Michael, and w ...

- Indian immigration official *

Diego Wallraff Diego is a Spanish language, Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese language, Portuguese equivalent is Diogo (name), Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two majo ...

- Ángel Díaz *

Ellen Cleghorne Ellen Leslye Cleghorne is an American actress and comedian, best known as a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1991 to 1995. Cleghorne was the sketch comedy show's second African-American female repertory cast member, succeeding Danitra ...

- Officer Rhoades *Angela Lanza - Flavia *

Jose Felipe Padron Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

- Felipe Pérez * Lázaro Pérez - Armando 'Papi' Pérez * Bill Sage - Steve Steverino *

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...

- Orlando *

Billy Hopkins Lee Daniels (born December 24, 1959) is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter. His first producer credit was ''Monster's Ball'' (2001), for which Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making Daniels t ...

- Father Aiden *

Ruben Rabasa Ruben Rabasa is a Cuban-born American actor and comedian best known for his roles in '' I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson'' and '' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania''. His appearance in the Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subs ...

- Father Martínez *

Melissa Anne Acosta Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant ''Me ...

- Isabel Archival footage of

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

and

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

also appeared in the film.

Reception

''The Perez Family'' received mixed reviews from critics, as it holds a 60% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 20 reviews.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack composed by

Alan Silvestri Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for all of his feature films including the ''Back ...

was released by Music Box Records, paired with his score for '' Clean Slate''.

External links

* * * *
CD soundtrack on Music Box Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez Family, The 1995 films 1995 comedy films American comedy films Films about immigration to the United States Films based on American novels Films directed by Mira Nair Films produced by Michael Nozik Films scored by Alan Silvestri Films set in 1980 Films set in Coral Gables, Florida Films set in Miami Films with screenplays by Robin Swicord The Samuel Goldwyn Company films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films