The true story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, a Texas-born Tejano singer who rose from cult status to performing at the Astrodome, as well as having chart topping albums on the Latin music charts.
A man makes his way from Mexico to L.A. in the 1920s, gets married and raises a big family there. The movie follows the children until they, too, get married and have children in the 1960s.
Director:
Gregory Nava
Stars:
Jimmy Smits,
Esai Morales,
Edward James Olmos
Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of early rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens who died at age 17 in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.
The film tells the story of the life of Mexican "Tejano" style singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez and the progress of her career resulting in her No. 1 US album.Written by
Anonymous
Jackie Guerra wanted the part of Selena's sister, Suzette, so badly that she lied at her audition, saying that she was an experienced drummer, when in fact she had never played the drums. After her inexperience was finally revealed, Selena's real sister Suzette gave her private lessons. See more »
Goofs
When Selena's father is teaching them how to play instruments when they are young, he tries to play the drums but Hen falls. When he falls, he lands on a pillow, but in the next shot, the pillow is gone. See more »
Quotes
Selena Quintanilla:
[their elopement has been heard on the radio and Chris tries to turn to the Corpus Christi entrance]
Don't go to Corpus, go the other way!
Chris Perez:
Where are we gonna go, Alaska?
Selena Quintanilla:
Anywhere but Corpus!
See more »
Crazy Credits
The producers wish to thank The Quintanilla Family See more »
Alternate Versions
On the Superstation and TNT versions, the scene where Selena sings "No Me Queda Mas" is extended, as is the scene where she sings "Si Una Vez". On all television showings, the word "Damn" is edited out of the scene where Abraham brings home the music equipment. See more »
What a lovely biopic. I had barely heard of Selena when she was killed, and I'm no fan of Tejano music. But this picture was a wonderful tribute to the young talent. The movie is a celebration of her life, rather than fixating on her death, as one would expect with her family so involved (controlling) with the film. This approach also just felt right. I'm sure that Hollywood, if it had had its way, would have sensationalized this aspect to the max. I don't know how much of the film is factual, and how much is apocryphal. A local reviewer wrote that a true biography of Selena would have to wait a few years, and be done without a Quintanilla looking over both shoulders.
All I can do is rave about Jennifer Lopez. Her beauty, her talent, her sheer magnetism flows right out of the screen. She was amazing. Since her biography subject died so young, she was able to avoid the problems, inherent in the genre, of trying to age the actress to match the aging of the subject. Constance Marie, who I'm not familiar with, was quite good as Selena's mother, although she did have to deal with the question of appearing to age 15 years. Every cast member seemed right for their part, and everyone did very well. The film seemed well-directed, in that I never thought about the director at any time during the film.
Overall, the movie was very sweet, with obvious tragic overtones. Highly recommended.
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What a lovely biopic. I had barely heard of Selena when she was killed, and I'm no fan of Tejano music. But this picture was a wonderful tribute to the young talent. The movie is a celebration of her life, rather than fixating on her death, as one would expect with her family so involved (controlling) with the film. This approach also just felt right. I'm sure that Hollywood, if it had had its way, would have sensationalized this aspect to the max. I don't know how much of the film is factual, and how much is apocryphal. A local reviewer wrote that a true biography of Selena would have to wait a few years, and be done without a Quintanilla looking over both shoulders.
All I can do is rave about Jennifer Lopez. Her beauty, her talent, her sheer magnetism flows right out of the screen. She was amazing. Since her biography subject died so young, she was able to avoid the problems, inherent in the genre, of trying to age the actress to match the aging of the subject. Constance Marie, who I'm not familiar with, was quite good as Selena's mother, although she did have to deal with the question of appearing to age 15 years. Every cast member seemed right for their part, and everyone did very well. The film seemed well-directed, in that I never thought about the director at any time during the film.
Overall, the movie was very sweet, with obvious tragic overtones. Highly recommended.