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WOMEN HAVE CURVES Rating:  Director: Patricia Cardoso Producers: Effie Brown & George LaVoo Writer: Josafina Lopez & George LaVoo Director of Photography: Jim Denault Cast: America Ferrera, Lupe Ontiveros, George Lopez Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
 Click the photo to buy merchandise from Real Woman Have Curves |
Review by: Curtis
Raines
10/08/02
When I first heard that I was going to review Real Women Have Curves, I had no idea what to expect. I thought maybe it's the next installment of Real Sex on HBO, or some infomercial for Jenny Craig. I was wrong on both accounts. And then I thought, "What right does a boring white guy with not an ounce of culture in his blood have to comment on a movie about a first generation Mexican American female dealing with social issues?" I could be way off, but I'm gonna try.
I walked into the screening room with my hands full of complimentary jellybeans to encounter a room packed with about twelve life long subscribers to Gloria Steinems' Ms. Magazine. I was definitely the proverbial fish out of water. But knowing this may have actually helped me take on a different perspective. After all, in a small metaphoric way, I was the minority in this environment. If I was going to learn about the plight of a Latina becoming a woman, this was it.
In her first role, America Ferrera plays Ana, a first generation Mexican American on the cusp of graduating high school and entering the work field. Mr. Guzman (George Lopez), Ana's teacher, emphatically encourages her to pursue her education. But Ana's mother (Lupe Ontiveros) dismisses the idea and insists that Ana work in the family business like her and her mother before that. The battle ensues, as Ana mother's archaic ways are the only thing standing in her path to womanhood.
The first thing that stood out to me while watching this film is that visually, it didn't work on any level. When I learned that it was adapted from a play, it made perfect sense. There are minimal scene locations and at times the dialogue is very talkie -- which is fine if you have good characters with a strong cast, but this film has neither (excluding Lupe Ontiveros and America Ferrera, who were good). I'm perfectly aware that George Lopez has a hit television show and I think that's great. I mean it -- congratulations. But George, just because you can pull a high Nielsen rating each week, that doesn't give you the right to think that you can actually act. Please, just stick to your little thirty-minute sitcom and stay away from the silver screen. Luckily, it was just a supporting role and only dragged the film down minimally.
The main story line of Real Women Have Curves is obviously the relationship between Ana and her mother. But I felt like I was playing blackjack at two-dollar tables in Vegas. Sure, I'm playing blackjack and having fun, but overall, it's only two bucks that we're talking about. You sit there for six hours and only end up winning seven dollars. I needed this movie to raise the stakes. I needed more excitement or controversy -- anything. A movie about an old-fashioned mother putting pressure on her new generation daughter to lose weight just doesn't do it for me. I guess if I were a supermodel who ate one grain of rice a day, I could relate. But I felt like I was watching an After School Special with profanity. The issues in this movie have been covered many times before, and the twist added to it just wasn't enough to keep me intrigued.
And then there's the big "liberation" scene. You may have seen this in the previews, but if you haven't, I'll spare you the details (involves women dancing). But trust me when I say, it's the most uncomfortable I've ever felt while watching a movie in my life. Remember the first time you watched a movie with your mom and suddenly a sex scene appeared? You know what I'm talking about; you find yourself shifting in your seat just counting the seconds until it's over. Well, this was a lot like that. I was literally embarrassed for the people on the screen. Considering the entire audience was female, I had a choice. I could have either (a): stood up and screamed, "YOU GO GIRL!" or (b): laughed out loud at what I was seeing and then promptly got the crap kicked out of me by the viewing audience. So what did I do? I wisely chose (c): excuse myself to the lobby and take advantage of those free jellybeans.
Look, I get what first time director, Patricia Cordosa was trying to do, but like I said the stakes weren't high enough and nothing was there that I hadn't seen before. Bad acting and redundant content make for a not so good movie. I think Cordosa had a lot to express, but just failed in doing so.
(A Newmarket Films release. Opens in
limited release on October 18.)
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