I first saw "Selena" a year ago when I showed it as a video to middle school Spanish students. While many of them expressed disappointment the first time I turned on the classroom lights and stopped the VCR 1-2 minutes before the bell sounded, I knew that for me the movie was lacking something.
That "Selena" the movie failed to greatly impress me did not mean that Selena the entertainer did not appeal to me or that the tragic end to her life had no affect on me. I had hoped, however, to learn more.
Since Selena's music and career interested me little before this film, I could not judge her story as to its accuracy and assumed that the different scenes -- Abraham Quintanilla's rallying and pushing his young children to rehearse, the group's playing for both enthusiastic and disillusioned audiences -- occurred in reality much as I observed them. I did not, in other words, have a basis on which to doubt the story's veracity.
I also had little reason to degrade the performances. Edward Olmos Jr. did his usual dynamic work, this time as Selena's protective and volatile father, and Jennifer Lopez did a credible job making me feel as if I were watching Selena, not JLo. For the most part, in fact, each cast member spoke his/her lines naturally.
What the filmmakers presented, how the characters behaved, and how they spoke, then, concerned me less than what they had to say. Hearing another aspiring musician or singer talk about achieving her dreams, assert her desire to marry because "I love him and he loves me," describe the details of the quaint country home she envisions for herself once she has had enough of concerts and tours, enjoy a rare exclusive conversation with her father in which he tells her, "you have always been my little girl," made me cringe.
After so many other similar stories about entertainers, such as "La Bamba," "The Buddy Holly Story," and "Sweet Dreams," "Selena" often seemed formulaic. While remaining faithful to what truly transpired in Selena's life, the writers could have, I thought, put together an original script.
That "Selena" the movie failed to greatly impress me did not mean that Selena the entertainer did not appeal to me or that the tragic end to her life had no affect on me. I had hoped, however, to learn more.
Since Selena's music and career interested me little before this film, I could not judge her story as to its accuracy and assumed that the different scenes -- Abraham Quintanilla's rallying and pushing his young children to rehearse, the group's playing for both enthusiastic and disillusioned audiences -- occurred in reality much as I observed them. I did not, in other words, have a basis on which to doubt the story's veracity.
I also had little reason to degrade the performances. Edward Olmos Jr. did his usual dynamic work, this time as Selena's protective and volatile father, and Jennifer Lopez did a credible job making me feel as if I were watching Selena, not JLo. For the most part, in fact, each cast member spoke his/her lines naturally.
What the filmmakers presented, how the characters behaved, and how they spoke, then, concerned me less than what they had to say. Hearing another aspiring musician or singer talk about achieving her dreams, assert her desire to marry because "I love him and he loves me," describe the details of the quaint country home she envisions for herself once she has had enough of concerts and tours, enjoy a rare exclusive conversation with her father in which he tells her, "you have always been my little girl," made me cringe.
After so many other similar stories about entertainers, such as "La Bamba," "The Buddy Holly Story," and "Sweet Dreams," "Selena" often seemed formulaic. While remaining faithful to what truly transpired in Selena's life, the writers could have, I thought, put together an original script.