48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun Movie!, May 6, 2007
I loved this movie....it is exceptionally well acted, witty, with a smart and biting script. Though it's technically a "chick flick", I think men would enjoy it also (although maybe not admit that). I saw it on television and liked it so much I wanted to see the unedited version. You can never go wrong with a movie made by HBO, and is something that you will want to pull out of the drawer and watch again and again.
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64 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Can Flan ruin your life?, October 30, 2002
The director/screenwriter, Patricia Cardoso and the co-screenwriter George LaVoo of "Real Women have Curves," have devised a movie centering around some very fascinating subjects: how we perceive ourselves, how other's perceive us and the friction and or disparity between the two. At the center of this story is a proud, hard-working Mexican American family: mother Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros) and her youngest daughter Ana (America Ferrera). Ana is an honor student and valedictorian of her graduating high school class. Her dream is to accept her scholarship at Columbia University and to escape the narrow confines and thinking of her East Los Angeles neighborhood and family. But mother, Carmen has other ideas: Carmen wants Ana to forgo college for awhile and to work in Ana's sister's garment factory so as to help support the family.
On top of this, Carmen is continually nagging at Ana to lose weight. "How do you expect to find a husband and have children with all that weight on you?" Carmen asks Ana. It is to Cardoso's credit that Ana has a very positive body image and of course it doesn't hurt that America Ferrera is quite lovely and imbues Ana with a sort of fierce and dynamic determination that makes people stand up and take notice not because of her size but because of her mind.
On the surface Carmen's plans for Ana seem cruel and small minded but in reality it is a natural trait of first generation immigrants to place family about all else. Ontiveros plays Carmen not as an ogre but as a woman who fears for her daughter's safety in the outside world. What Carmen doesn't realize is that Ana has inherited her courage and presence of mind from her and her husband: Ana is a product, the physical manifestation of Carmen's wishes and dreams of a better life for her children and herself.
The set piece of "Real Women have Curves" is a scene in the garment factory when all the women, lead by Ana, decide to shed their clothing initially because of the heat. There is a palpable feeling of exaltation and release in this scene on several levels: "curvy" women not being embarrassed to disrobe and expose their bodies that becomes a universal call to all women to embrace their physical selves and to reject what society and our culture dictates as the female ideal. In essence, all females are ideal is what Cardoso is saying.
"Real Women have Curves" is a small film with the nerve and the guts to question and then supply answers to some of the stuff our culture bombards us with daily. Stuff that can either stifle you...or make you stronger and more resolute.
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38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Portrayal Seems Genuine !, April 11, 2007
Great movie for all ages. This film is very enjoyable and it can be appreciated by any age group. It seems like a good family movie.
It's about a Latino family and their struggles with their dress shop. It is also about the choice that Ana (college bound) must make. I felt the pressure that the family put her through. She is a very bright and independent girl who's made to feel obligated to work in the family's business.
Characters are portrayed very authentically and believable.
Nothing too far fetched (except maybe the underwear dancing factory workers), though that was a hysterical scene.
Loved it!
Recommend it!
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