Fresh
Selena surmounts its connect-the-dots approach to its heroine's life to create an appealing, energetic look at a too-briefly soaring musical star.
Todd McCarthy, Variety
Selena
Discover the true story of one of America's brightest stars... that faded too soon.
1997 · 2h 7m · PG
Drama, History, Music
Directed by
Gregory Nava
Overview
In this biographical drama, Selena Quintanilla is born into a musical Mexican-American family in Texas. Her father, Abraham, realizes that his young daughter is talented and begins performing with her at small venues. She finds success and falls for her guitarist, Chris Perez, who draws the ire of her father. Seeking mainstream stardom, Selena begins recording an English-language album which, tragically, she would never complete.
Director and cast
- Gregory Nava Director
- Jennifer Lopez as Selena Quintanilla-Pérez
- Edward James Olmos as Abraham Quintanilla
- Jon Seda as Chris Perez
- Constance Marie as Marcela Quintanilla
- George Perez as Seff - Dinos 1961
- Rebecca Lee Meza as Young Selena
- Lupe Ontiveros as Yolanda Saldívar
- Victoria Elena Flores as Young Suzette
- Jackie Guerra as Suzette Quintanilla
- Rafael Tamayo as Young Abie
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
67%
Tomatometer
Rotten
By the end of the film, Selena has been all but canonized.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Rotten
Nava, who started his feature-film career with El Norte, is a good director who invariably finds a strong rapport with his actors. He's not much of a writer, though, and he should think twice about creating dialogue for his future projects.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Rotten
Missing is a sense of the interior life behind the smiling face that Selena showed the world. What of the drive that led her to music? What comfort did she find in it? What pain?
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Fresh
This is a simple story of hope and triumph, of one girl with the drive to succeed defying the odds and following her dream. It's not an original tale -- movies like this abound -- but Nava's point-of-view is fresh.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
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