Luminarias

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67%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 326

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Movie Info

Billed as a Latina Waiting to Exhale, this film details the life and loves of four Hispanic women: Sofia, a therapist; Andrea, a divorced lawyer; Irene, a flashy clothes designer; and Lilly, an artist. The women gather every week at the nightspot Luminarias to discuss jobs, family, love, and sex. Sofia, who dates white men in the hope of fitting into Anglo culture, becomes smitten with an amorous Mexican waiter. On the other hand, Andrea, who believes that white guys are only interested in Hispanic woman as exotic love toys, finds herself falling for a Jewish lawyer. While Lilly deals with racism from her Korean-American boyfriend's family, sexpot Irene has her own conflicted feelings toward her transvestite brother. Luminarias was screened at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival.

Rating:

R (language, sex)
Genre:

Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed By:

José Luis Valenzuela
Written By:

Evelina Fernandez
In Theaters:

May 3, 2000 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Feb 26, 2002
Runtime:

101 minutes
Studio:

MTI Home Video

Cast

Evelina Fernandez
as Andrea

Scott Bakula
as Joseph

Cheech Marin
as Jesus

Marta Du Bois
as Sofia

Angela Moya
as Lilly

Dyana Ortelli
as Irene

Robert Beltran
as Joe

Seidy Lopez
as Cindy

Sal Lopez
as Pablo

Fidel Gomez
as Joey

Angelina Estrada
as Tia Concha

Lupe Ontiveros
as Tia Tonia

Mike Gomez
as Frank Chavez

Liz Torres
as Judge Sanchez

Geoffrey Rivas
as Carlos/Carmela

Andrew C. Lim
as Lu

Pepe Serna
as Rick

Richard Coca
as Tony

Ayisha Sinclair
as Laura

Sab Shimono
as Lu's Father

June Kim
as Lu's Mother

Barbara Niven
as Jan

Alma Beltran

View All

Critic Reviews for Luminarias

All Critics (15) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (5)

The emotions are genuine, and the touching scenes between Andrea and her son (Fidel Gomez), and the hilarious ones, keep the film moving.

Jan 1, 2000 | Full Review…

Maria Garcia
Film Journal International