SELENA
A film review by Walter Frith
Copyright 1997 Walter Frith
Jennifer Lopez gives a star making performance in the biopic 'Selena'. This energizing look at the life of a blossoming music superstar whose life ended in tragic fashion in 1995 at the hands of her fan club manager at a hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas is an in-depth, creative and fascinating look at a life based not only on talent and decication to one's craft but also to the bonds of family life which is so splendidly played out by the entire cast.
In 1987, 'La Bamba' starring Lou Diamond Phillips had a similar look as it too was the story of a Mexican-American music legend whose life ended too soon in a plane crash on February 3, 1959 that also took the lives of Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. As well as documenting the final three years of Valens' life, that film characterized the rivalry between Valens and his older brother while 'Selena' chooses to focus on her family struggling and working hard as children from the time Selena is nine until her death at age twenty three.
Led by the belief of their father (Edward James Olmos) that they can make it big in show business, the family's other children aside from Selena learn to play musical instruments and are by Selena's side as she climbs the ladder of success. Lopez looks astonishingly similar to the real life Selena and the movie is an indication that her career can go far because of her dedication to this role.
Director/writer Gregory Nava ('El Norte') brings a hard edged and straight laced look to this film and makes Edward James Olmos as Selena's father the pillar of strength as his towering performance as the family's bonding elder is the best one in the film.
For movie lovers interested in knowing something about the life of this talented superstar, 'Selena' takes the time to also be a sweet, tender and caring film about family, success, disappointment and tragic circumstance juggled for a perfect balance.
OUT OF 5> * * *
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews