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 1991 novel The Perez Family (ISBN 0-06-097401-X) by Christine Bell. The film was directed by Mira Nair.

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.
 * Marisa Tomei - Dorita Evita Pérez
 * Alfred Molina - Juan Raúl Pérez
 * Anjelica Huston - Carmela Pérez
 * Chazz Palminteri - Lt. John Pirelli
 * Trini Alvarado - Teresa Pérez
 * Celia Cruz - Luz Pat
 * Ranjit Chowdhry - Indian immigration official
 * Diego Wallraff - Ángel Díaz
 * Ellen Cleghorne - Officer Rhoades
 * Angela Lanza - Flavia
 * Jose Felipe Padron - Felipe Pérez
 * Lázaro Pérez - Armando 'Papi' Pérez
 * Bill Sage - Steve Steverino
 * Vincent Gallo - Orlando
 * Billy Hopkins - Father Aiden
 * Ruben Rabasa - Father Martínez
 * Melissa Anne Acosta - Isabel

Reception
The Perez Family received mixed reviews from critics, as it holds a 65% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews.

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