Rating: 
Summary: A real pleasure
Review: I have no feedback about this movie that isn't positive. It was a pleasure to watch the film, which is about a young real-size woman who graduates from high school, encounters her first love, and moves on to college despite opposition from her traditional Latino family (especially her mother). It's as if Hollywood (at least some independent aspect of it) is finally waking up to the fact that truly, "real women have curves" (are not all size 0), have brains and aspirations and moxie, and come from different ethnic groups and backgrounds. I'm not Latino, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I want to see films about the people I see around me in my urban area - there are a variety of people. I want films to reflect that. It's a pleasure when a movie like this one shows the ethnic background of a character so those not familiar with it can learn, but also shows aspects of life that we can all relate to. I really enjoyed the lead character. She was so strong and knew herself so well. The part in the dress-making shop where the women remove their outer clothes to combat the heat and express their self-acceptance was truly liberating. I hope to see more films like this, and soon.
Rating:
Summary: A positive message for all women. I really enjoyed it.
Review: This 2002 independent film is classified as a comedy. It's not. It's a small slice of life about a Mexican American young woman who has just graduated high school. She dreams of going to college but her family insists she work in her older sister's dress factory. There's a clash of cultures. And some very moving moments. It's a uniquely American story, one that has been told over and over again as all waves of immigrants have to deal with assimilation. And yet, it is always fascinating. Casting is excellent. America Ferrera plays the young woman. She, like her mother and sister, is overweight and curvy. But the title doesn't just relate to her body. It's about the kind of curves that woman have to deal with in life - like a curve ball thrown in a baseball game. Lupe Ontiveros is the mother. It's a great role, and it's easy to relate to her as she tries to keep her family together. She has absolutely magnificent facial expressions. One look from her tells a thousand stories. Ingrid Oliu is the older sister trying to keep her small shop in business. The women sew evening gowns that sell for $600 or more in Bloomingdale's. For this, the contractor gets a mere $18 per dress. It's hot in the shop and they work long hours. Not a life for a young woman who has big dreams. Later, during the DVD's special feature section, Josefina Lopez, the writer, told the audience that she, herself, actually worked in one of these sweatshops. No wonder it all seemed so authentic! This is a coming of age film. It's also a film about women, and their bodies. In one scene the women in the sweatshop strip down to their underwear and proudly display their very imperfect bodies to one another. There sure was a lot of strength in that scene. And a positive message for all women. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A Well-Done Coming of Age Film
Review: I saw this movie in the same weekend I watched "Bend It Like Beckham," and the two movies are very similar in theme. "Real Women" is somewhat darker (but not much) and takes itself a little more seriously, but it's still a very good movie about a girl coming to terms with her family and herself in working-class L.A. It's a leisurely paced film and makes many good points about the stifling effects parents can have when they refuse to see the potential in their own children, and about the need for children to sometimes ignore the guilt they feel when they defy their parents in order to meet that potential. The young lady who stars does a mostly fine job with the role, but I never felt she was completely invested in what her family thought in the first place, so didn't fully appreciate the conflicts she was supposed to be having with herself over deserting them. The scene in which the group of female dress-shop workers strip down to compare cellulite and then proceed to work in the semi-nude is hilarious, and one of the film's highlights. Thoroughly enjoyable. Grade: B
Rating:
Summary: Funny, original, and refreshing!
Review: Meet Ana (America Ferrera), a Mexican-American teenager on the threshold of becoming a "real woman". She lives in the heavily Latino community of East Los Angeles. She has just graduated from a prestigious Beverley Hills high school and wishes to attend college. She is a very smart woman, but her family; still clinging to old traditions, want Ana to stay home and provide for the family by working in her older sister's struggling sewing factory (which in actuality is more of a sweatshop, as Ana kindly points out). Though Ana's teacher (George Lopez) tries to convince her parents to let Ana go, they say that they are a family and will not be separated. "Real Women Have Curves" is a funny and refreshing film. It has several storylines that work together to convey the film's core message, accept yourself for who you are and to follow your dreams! The film's main focus is, well, I can't really say. Let's just say it is evenly split between Ana's conflict with her mother, Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros), who expects her daughter to marry and have children, education means nothing to her. She also hates the fact that her daughter is overweight and is constantly calling her "fatty" and demeaning Ana in other harsh ways. The film also focuses on Ana's struggle to choose between college or family, the nervous excitement she feels from her first boyfriend, the admiration she soon finds herself feeling towards the women who work so dedicatedly at the sewing shop, and, of course, her struggle to accept herself, curves and all. "Real Women Have Curves" is a funny, refreshing, and meaningful film. It boasts a witty script filled with delightfully funny and diverse characters that bring the story to life. I admire how the film reinforces the belief that you don't have to be skinny to be happy or successful. The reoccurring theme, to accept your body, is one not often seen in Hollywood films nowadays. It was great to finally see it done. Overall, "Real Women Have Curves" is a highly enjoyable little movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Real women battle cellulite
Review: REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES continues the recent spate of cute generation gap films that began with MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, then continued with MONSOON WEDDING, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, and WHALE RIDER. In all cases, we are presented with a female protagonist endeavoring to break traditional cultural bonds being imposed by an older generation - father, mother, or grandparent. In REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES, Ana (America Ferrera) has just graduated from a Beverly Hills high school, to which she buses every day from her family's home in east central Los Angeles. Not only is Ana a gifted student, but she's won a scholarship to Columbia University. However, her Latino parents, and especially her mother Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros), expect her not to abandon the nest, but rather work in her older sister Estela's (Ingrid Oliu) small clothing factory that creates fancy dresses for high-end retailers. Because Estela chronically operates short of employees and money and perilously close to production deadlines, her establishment is a figurative and literal sweatshop, especially since the fans can't be turned on as they would blow dirt onto the finished goods. Needless to say, Ana loathes working for her sister. Ana is also overweight. It doesn't help her self-image that Mom, who fears for her younger daughter's marriage prospects, habitually addresses Ana as "Fatty". The two have a tense relationship. Because the creators of this film apparently endeavored to keep the storyline true to life, it also perhaps lacks entertainment value in comparison to the other movies mentioned. The finale of MONSOON WEDDING dazzled the viewer with a vibrantly colorful and joyous Indian marriage ceremony. BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM had a sports theme and included the Big Game. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING was overtly comedic as a vegetarian WASP incorporates himself, via marriage, into an extended Greek family - emphatically neither vegetarian or WASP. WHALE RIDER included everybody's warm and fuzzy animal - whales. REAL WOMAN HAVE CURVES offers little more than a teenage girl with an understandably Bad Attitude. I'll not say that this film is totally without merit. The best sequence involves Estela's employees, all zaftig, and including Ana, comparing stretch marks and cellulite, much to Carmen's horror. And the film's very last scene leaves the viewer feeling good about Ana's prospects in life. However, the movie as a whole isn't any more entertaining than watching the next door neighbor kid be normally rebellious. I wanted something more clever.
Rating:
Summary: CINE 285k-I.M.O'S-Real Women Have Curves Review
Review: *REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES Ana: America Ferrera
Carmen: Lupe Ontiveros
Estela: Ingrid Oliu
Mr. Guzman: George Lopez
Jimmy: Brian Sites Directed by Patricia Cardoso/ Written by Josefina Lopez/ 93 Minutes (Rated PG-13). BY ANDREW KOCH The central character, Ana, is an Eastern Los Angeles student who throughout the movie proves herself academically so well in high school that she receives a scholarship to Columbia University. Unfortunately, her traditional Mexican mother is trying to keep her working in a fabric shop ironing dresses for a living. Carmen wants her daughter to get married, start a family and become a good Mexican American mother and wife.
The movie has several important conflicts within the plot. One being the escape Ana makes from her mother and the life Ana does not want to live. The movie also examines Ana's bodily issues and the path to becoming comfortable with herself. The movie proves not that Ana is a gorgeous young lady, but that on the inside and out she is comfortable and pleased with whom she is as a Mexican woman living in Los Angeles.
This movie explores the concept of what society deems women are expected to look like. There exists conflict between Ana and her mother based around the expectation that a woman must be slim and accepting in order to attract an able male. Society's expectations of a female Ana's age are personified through mother Carmen. Carmen believes Ana should loose weight and loose her unique, robust, independent empowering attributes as a female. Thus, becoming more of an object than an actual person. This objectification does not go well with Ana; in fact it only further motives her to become less of an object and more of real woman with her own thoughts, feeling and curves. Scenes such as the sex with Jimmy and the naked fabric shop dancing only help illustrate how far she has come as a woman in the movie.
This movie becomes very dramatic and serious many times because of a clash/ intersection of race, gender and social/ economic class. To Ana, the clash of these functions as a barrier to achieve what she thinks she can do in life. Living in The USA as a minority can make life tough at times. One may feel lonely and mistreated frequently in life. This minority status is motivation to do well and to make her people proud she can succeed and escape the life of which many Mexican American's are unable to do. Her social and economic class also serves as an entity that holds her back. She must work and help support the family. This limits her time to do other things and also severely limits what "means" she has to progress in life. Ana's gender also brings her some hardships within her community and within her life. She as a Mexican American woman is expected by tradition/customs to finish high school and start a family. This intersection of her gender, Mexican heritage, and relatively poor lifestyle provides a barrier to disempowered her as an able female. Ana brilliantly asses each mechanism of this restricting entity and chooses to push way out by being confident, hard-working, intelligent and very unrelenting.
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: Real Women Have Curves: They story is basic. America Ferrera is graduating from high
school and while her teacher, played by George Lopez, is encouraging her
to go to college, her family, especially her mother, is under the belief
that she should stay in her place and work in her sister's factory. We
then have the generation gap and clash between America's character
wanting to reach out and gain her potential and her mother wanting to put
her in her place with comments on her quick tongue and her weight. Seems
"Mommy Dearest" feels the only way her daughter will get ahead is to be a
size 2 or less and get herself a good man. Fortunately America's
character is happy with herself the way she is.
I liked this one a lot. I found it to be relatively original in it's
design and construction. It kept me awake (which is a big plus these
days). The characters were all richly drawn out and the Hispanic
heritage was ample throughout. I had seen the America Ferrera in more
than one Disney Channel movie (yes, my daughter is an infant) and found
her usually to be pretty good. Here, in a more grown up role she was
superb. Definitely and independent worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: "I want you to see me..." "Muy bonita!"
Review: "Real Women" has a great theme that overcomes a marginal script and spotty acting. It's hard not to like this film and most viewers will come away feeling good about it. Ana, a teenage girl in L.A., is finishing high school where she's done very well as a student. All her classmates are going to college and her teacher strongly encourages Ana to do so too. But at home her family, in particular her mother Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros in a great performance), has a different set of expectations. Carmen feels a woman's role in life is to be pretty, work hard, have children, and take care of her husband. After all, that is the path she took. Carmen frequently criticizes her daughter about her weight. So Ana faces a dilemma many young women face: will she follow her desire to go to college and a presumably bright future or will she stay home and help support her family? This film covers the question well. This dilemma also involves Ana's relationship with her mother and their battle of wills-familiar territory, I'm sure, to many 18-year old girls and their mothers. Despite the sometimes wooden acting and stilted dialogue, the characters are believable and (most) are likable. I particularly enjoyed all the scenes at Estele's dress shop and the budding romance between Ana and her friend Jimmy. A minor point: Estele's dress shop doesn't have the characteristics of a sweatshop so references to it as such by many reviewers serves to diminish a real problem. This characterization undoubtedly comes from Ana's statement to that effect in the movie. But the film's depiction of Estele's doesn't support Ana's remark (and she, like her mother, tends to exaggerate). Viewers may come away thinking, "if that's a sweatshop, what's the fuss?" Real sweatshops do what Estele does not do: exploit their workers through underpayment, unsafe work conditions or through physical or verbal abuse. Estele has trouble meeting her payroll but she does not lord over, threaten, or take advantage of those who work for her. On the other hand, this film does well to bring up the specter of sweatshops and the contract arrangements by which they arise (hence the despicable character, "Mrs." Glass). I wonder if the play on which this film is based, by Josefina Lopez, had a different setting for the dress shop.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Ugly
Review: I love this movie. I have watched it many times. Not only is this a good movie from a feminist's perspective (speaking about the importance and potential of women) but it says much about the Mexican culture. Throughout the whole movie, Ana is insulted by her mother about being FAT. Each comment she makes cuts to the core of her. I can understand her feelings, even though I might have not been verbally insulted, I always felt "less" than someone else who was skinnier than me. I feel emotionally attached to this film. The character (Ana) struggles to feel selfworth despite her weight. This movie is a good look at the Mexican culture in the way that women are viewed. They aren't supposed to go to college or become successful. If they aren't beautiful, they have no hope for a future. (Which you can see through Ana's mom's comments) This is sad but very accurate. This movie opens the eyes of everyone, including Latinos. I hope it gives more courage to girls to follow their dreams and not let their weight hold them back. Curves are beautiful and America Ferrera (Ana) is beautiful! This movie is beautiful for everything that it promotes and the ugly comes from the mother's comments and social pressures. A must see!!!
Rating:
Summary: Real Women Have Curves
Review: Real Women Have Curves is a critically acclaimed film directed by Patricia Cardoso and starring America Ferrera, Lupe Ontiveros and Ingrid Oliu. This movie deals with a mother-daughter relationship between Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros) and Ana (America Ferrera). Ana is a first generation Mexican American who longs to continue her education at Columbia University where she is accepted with a full scholarship, however her mother would prefer that she remain at home and help out the family like she did when she was younger. She wants Ana to be a reflection of herself. Ana decides to help her family out by working in her sister's clothing factory where she works with her mother, sister as well as a few other Hispanic women. All three women break the stereotypes of many Hispanic people by being seen as hard working individuals who care a great deal about their family.
Moreover, although Ana comes from a humble home in a highly populated Hispanic neighborhood she still strives for a good education and the fact that she is a woman, nonetheless Hispanic and comes from a lower class family does not stop her, which I really like. It sends young Hispanic women the message that although they are struggling economically or because of racial inequality that they should fight to have a success story like Ana. Estella owns the factory and works hard to keep it. She does not need the help of a husband to survive. Her family most importantly her mother and sister are who assist her in order to keep her store open and her dream alive. This film undoubtedly breaks many stereotypes of Hispanics in America.
Ana who is the main character in this film is not the typical beautiful young girl because of her weight, which is constantly reminded to her by her mother. She also downplays her natural beauty, until a young man suddenly likes her from her high school. Unlike most males, he sees beyond the physical beauty, by not seeing her as a commodity, but as a person. He falls for her, not her body. This movie also shows that although women are often taught from a young age that their physical beauty is imperative and that they need to fit the standards of an ideal women to be liked by a man it is not true. This movie displays that inner beauty is and should be seen as what makes a woman valuable. In the end it is not a woman's beauty that should determine her social standing but her brains. Ana was intelligent and hardworking that is why she made it into Columbia and why she had the young boy interested in her. Real Women Have Curves leaves viewers, more specifically women viewers, with positive thoughts on how women should actually want to be seen, which is for the internal not the external. It also teaches women that if you can learn to love and value yourself from the inside out then the physical is not so important. Not to mention that if you really want to accomplish something you can, no matter what the obstacles, social, economic, race or gender. This movie is a must see film.
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