El Norte

"The film's concentration on the plight of its young hopefuls (...) is done with much humour and compassion, so that the tragedy of its message is very bracing." 

"Nava draws wondrously naturalistic performances from David Villalpando and Zaide Silvia Gutierrez (...) A sobering glimpse of reality, that's also an irresistibly involving drama (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)" 

"It tells a simple story in such a romantic and poetic way that we are touched, deeply and honestly, and we know we will remember the film for a long time (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)" 

"[It] applies a variety of sophisticated rhetorical techniques to a sentimental, manipulative story line (...) Nava is clearly less interested in exploring the tragic reality of the situation than in wringing a few tears from Anglo audiences." 

"Perhaps it is too much of a tearjerker in the long run. However, it is beautifully lensed and comes across as a kind of giant Renaissance canvas." 

"Nava’s shrill script and his cast’s over-earnest performances render the whole thing hopelessly inauthentic (...) [It] deserves credit for being one of the first films to engage American cinema in a discourse on the immigrant experience (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"