Search - Real Women Have Curves on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 6/15/2022...

America Ferrera in a much different role and a plotline with different perspectives.

Fantastic!

Deanna L. Chapman | Staten Island, NY United States | 09/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this movie, it's become one of my favorite movies to watch. America Ferrera is a great actress in movies and on T.V. such as Ugly Betty."

And don't eat that flan !!!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 04/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Real Women Have Curves is a charming coming of age story set in East Los Angeles with a wonderful cast; the acting is very convincing as well. The plot moves along at an excellent pace. I can honestly say that they edited it extremely well; there's not too much here that could have been cut and that's a rarity! The cinematography and the choreography shine throughout the movie as well.

When the action starts, we quickly meet 18 year old Ana Garcia (America Ferrera) who lives at home with her working class family in East Los Angeles. Ana has a sister Estela (Ingrid Oliu) who runs a small factory making dresses for just a few pennies on the dollar; and their mother Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros) works in Estela's factory. They call it a "factory;" but it's really just a sweatshop at best. Ana gets along fairly well with her father and she's especially close with her kindly old grandfather (Felipe de Alba); but Ana's mother Carmen is a neurotic hopelessly rooted in the past. Carmen dreams up fantasies of being pregnant at age 52; and she complains that Ana is just not like her. Carmen and Ana do not get along. Moreover, Ana has dreams of breaking out of the working class cycle of barely living paycheck to paycheck to make something of herself. Specifically, Ana wants to go to college where she can meet new people and learn exciting new things.

High school ends for Ana; and as the summer goes by Ana must slowly but surely square off with her parents--and especially her mother Carmen-about college. Her high school professor Mr. Guzman (George Lopez) believes in her and Guzman even uses his political connections to get Ana a full scholarship to Columbia University in New York City. But when Mr. Guzman tells the family of this development, he is practically kicked out of their house without any thanks whatsoever--and things between Ana and her mother Carmen really start to heat up.

Of course, there is more. Ana becomes romantically involved with Jimmy (Brian Sites), a young guy from her high school graduating class. Ana and Jimmy date and more things happen. How will Ana's mother Carmen ever be able to handle all this? In addition, Estela's workshop is running very low on cash. After three women of the already much too small staff suddenly quit, how will the dressmakers ever be able to meet their quotas on time if they are to get any pay at all from the distributors?

What happens after all this? Will Ana ever be able to convince her stubborn, old-world mother Carmen that college is actually what's best for her? What about Ana's relationship with her grandfather--when the chips are down, will Ana abandon him? Will Ana and Jimmy have a future together? Watch and find out!

The DVD comes with a few extras. There is an additional scene of Ana one year later; and we get two commentaries. There are two versions of a featurette about the movie; one is in English and the other is in Spanish.

Real Women Have Curves showcases the fantastic talents of these marvelous actors; and hopefully young women will be inspired by Ana's story and reach high to achieve their dreams. This is a fine movie that also deals with coming of age issues; and for all these reasons I highly recommend this film.
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