Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Camilla Belle | ... | Nora Dominguez | |
Alexa PenaVega | ... | Mary Dominguez (as Alexa Vega) | |
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Tina French | ... | Old Librarian |
Luis Rosales | ... | Juanito | |
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Pablo Martínez de Velasco | ... | Pablo the Gardener |
Alexis Ayala | ... | Gabriel Dominguez Sr. | |
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Norma Reyna | ... | Carmina |
Adriana Barraza | ... | Aurelia Jimenez | |
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Oliverio Gareli | ... | Marco Antonio Ramirez |
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Catalina López | ... | Trinita |
José María Negri | ... | Benjamin Kerensky | |
Mario Zaragoza | ... | Federico | |
Pablo Cruz | ... | Gabriel Dominguez Jr. | |
April Bowlby | ... | Olivia | |
Nicholas D'Agosto | ... | Edward Ferris |
When their dad dies on his 55th birthday, Beverley Hills sisters, Mary and Nora, find themselves destitute, forced by a grasping sister-in-law to move in with their aunt in East L.A. Mary, the younger sister, is mortified: spoiled by her dad, ignorant of Spanish, scared of the vatos. Her sister convinces her to finish college, and she promptly decides that one of her T.A.s will be her ticket back to Rodeo Drive. Elder sister Nora, a law student, gets a job as a legal intern, and Edward, her supervisor, the brother of the grasping sister-in-law, promptly falls for her. Slowly, the sisters realize what a rich place the barrio is at the same time that they get bruised in the contact sport of love. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
Believing this to be a comedy, I sat down to watch it, only to find out that the movie was more of a romantic drama, than it was a comedy. So was that a bad thing? No, because "From Prada to Nada" turned out to be a rather nice cultural movie of sorts.
The story is about two sisters who live in luxury in Beverly Hills, when their father drops dead on his 55th birthday. Finding out that their father was a risk-taker and is in serious debt, the sisters Nora (played by Camilla Belle) and Mary (played by Alexa Vega) have to pack up their things and move to East Los Angeles to live with their Mexican family. This is somewhat of a change of lifestyle and a whole new world for the rich man's daughters.
I will say that "From Prada to Nada" turned out to be more than just a 'riches to rags' story. It deals with finding yourself even when odds are stacked against you, and finding your heritage even after having deluded yourself otherwise. And, of course, it is a story of family bonds and of finding love.
There were aspects and parts of the movie that were venturing down the 'chick flick' lane, while other parts of the movie were so predictable that you saw it coming a mile away. But still, "From Prada to Nada" turned out to be an enjoyable and somewhat beautiful movie.
The people cast for the various roles were doing good jobs, and especially Camilla Belle and Alexa Vega carried the movie quite well. And it was nice to see Wilmer Valderrama in this movie as well.
If you enjoy a moving with a loving story and a story that is close to life and realistic, then you should give "From Prada to Nada" a watch, because it is well worth it.