Love For Rent

This low budget romantic dramedy shows the desperate act an immigrant goes through in order to stay in America--a Colombian Sofia (Angie Cepeda) has married to stay in the U.S. and studies to become a lawyer, but her husband absconds with everything she owns, threatening her immigrant status. She can't get him arrested because he threatens to report her. But that is not the desperate act I am referring to.

One day a fender bender she is involved in with an affluent couple (Nora Dunn, Jim Piddock) leads to an opportunity--the childless couple asks her to become their surrogate mother for a big fee. Sofia takes this job but does not tell her new boyfriend, the emergency room doctor she met after the car accident (Ken Marino). Sofia also watches out for the little foster son of some disinterested neighbors, and the three of them--Sofia, boyfriend Neil and little Max--become an unconventional family.

The story itself doesn't examine too seriously the dramatic implications of the surrogacy and pretty much ends (unrealistically) happily.  Although the setups are pretty unspectacular and for the most part plot devices, the story does focus more on characters, with the roles by some supporting actors--Nora Dunn as the spiritless wife and hopeful mother, Max Burkholder acting as a pretty natural child, and Ken Marino giving both a comedic and dramatic performance--helping to elevate this movie above typical low budget or romantic comedy movies.