Real Women Have Curves (2002)
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 83
Fresh: 69 | Rotten: 14
Even though Real Women is another coming-of-age tale, it's a real charmer.
Average Rating: 7.3/10
Critic Reviews: 25
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 2
Even though Real Women is another coming-of-age tale, it's a real charmer.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 10,503
My Rating
Movie Info
In this independent drama, Ana (America Ferrera) is a bright and ambitious 18-year-old Latina who has just graduated from high school in East Los Angeles. Ana wants to broaden her horizons and go on to college, but her mother Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros) has other ideas; Ana's older sister Estela (Ingrid Oliu) oversees the family business, a dress factory, and Carmen has decided that Ana should put higher education on hold and go to work as a seamstress. When Estela loses four employees in a week,
Cast
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (97) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (72) | Rotten (14) | DVD (13)
It's so underwritten that you can't figure out just where the other characters, including Ana's father and grandfather, come down on the issue of Ana's future.
Top CriticReal Women Have Curves is nowhere near a great film, but it is the most distinctive and appealing of entertainments.
A vivid cinematic portrait.
You watch for that sense of openness, the little surprises.
Funny and touching.
What's most refreshing about Real Women Have Curves is its unforced comedy-drama and its relaxed, natural-seeming actors.
Ugly Betty star captivates in teen drama.
However conventional the film sometimes is, it always feels true to life, thanks to in largest part to the actresses.
Filled with vividly etched scenes of the Latina garment workers toiling away, underpaid for the overpriced Bloomingdales bound dresses they could never afford nor fit into.
One of the best things about "Real Women" is exactly that %u2013 the real sized women (and men) who fill out this endearing coming-of-age story with a physical and emotional robustness that puts the Hollywood size-three's to shame.
Divertido, sensível, bem dirigido e abençoado por ótimas atuações, o filme só falha ao subestimar espectador, explicitando uma mensagem que se beneficiaria da sutileza.
This strong little independent film packs more colour and life into its trim 86 minutes than many puffed-up blockbusters can stuff into two hours.
Cardoso has clearly connected with Josefina Lopez' work (originally a stage play based on her own experiences) and found something to say without making it either a feminist or a fatty tract.
It's just an honest, funny, touching story about a teen-age girl who tries to find her way after graduating high school.
Certainly not the best film ever made but it's definitely something for the Latin community to be proud of.
Real movies have characters, but not Real Women Have Curves, a fiasco of dopey characters and clumsy script.
Audience Reviews for Real Women Have Curves
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Real Women Have Curves yet.
What's Hot On RT
The Last Stand, Side Effects
Trailer for James Franco adaptation
Rachel McAdams' time travel romantic drama
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Ranking the Blockbusters with Summer Movie Scorecard 2013 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Last Stand and Side Effects 9
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Star Trek Softer Than Expected at #1 81
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 37
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 106
- Red Carpet Roundup: Star Trek Into Darkness Edition 0
- Video Interviews with Katie Aselton & Lake Bell of Black Rock 2
Top Headlines
-
Alex Gibney Talks We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
0
-
RED Screenwriters Returning for RED 3
0
-
Brave's Brenda Chapman Talks Merida Makeover Controversy
2
-
Gold Discovers Spike Lee
1
-
Morgan Freemand and Diane Keaton Team Up for Life Itself
0
-
The Ten O'Clock People Are Counting on Chris Evans
0
-
Marton Csokas in Talks for The Equalizer
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- Ana (FR)
These days there is a lot of talk about the American Dream with politicians bandying about the term with little critical insight and the late, great George Carlin saying, "They call it that because you have to be asleep to believe it.;" But this is a film with its eyes wide open and a focused, almost myopic support of the possibilities that still remain for this nation's under-represented.
America Ferrera's performance as a focused, determined woman who is torn by her tradition-worshiping mother and her dreams of going to college is quite strong, and we quickly gain an admiring respect for the character as Ferrera embodies her. Likewise, the antagonist, played by Lupe Ontiveros, is believable as being able to combine love, fear, and manipulation in a single action. These are two fine actresses giving strong performances.
Though the film is able to celebrate women without demonizing men, there are nonetheless structural flaws. Director Patricia Cardoso tries to add Latin music to smooth out the film's transitions, but the scenes are unevenly short and episodic. Also, we never see much development in Ana's character. It is as though she either wakes up or starts the movie ready to give a school assembly speech to young girls about the importance of self-esteem, use of condoms, and higher education. Thus, she becomes a one-dimensional character and a mouthpiece for the director and screenwriters. Nothing she says is objectionable, but a film so invested in character should allow us more insight into her journey.
Overall, there's no reason not to show this film to every teenager in the country, regardless of ethnicity or size, but there are many reasons not to show it in film school.