Rating: 
Summary: Feel Beautiful!
Review: This movie should make most women, regardless of size, feel sexy and beautiful. I loved it and wish all young women could feel as accepting of themselves as the main character. Not only will the movie make you feel great, it is anything but superficial. In addition to promoting a healthy body image, it provides an examination of the conflict between traditional views and modern views within a Mexican-American family in Los Angeles, especially in regards to the role of women in the family and larger culture. The movie also shows the real-life reality of sweatshop workers and the horrible gap between what they are paid to make clothing and how much the clothing sells for in upscale department stores. It makes you think about how women of different cultures and classes are severely disconnected. There is so much to this movie! I cannot recommend it enough. The final 15-20 seconds keep replaying over & over in my mind. I found it so wonderful.
Rating: 
Summary: good film, interesting topic, fine acting
Review: America Ferrara heads a perfect cast in this story of a high school graduate's crucial summer -- when she will begin her own path to adulthood. Adding to the gravity of the mood is Ana's mother, who is constantly denigrating her daughter with comments about her weight and unattractiveness. This is not a flawless film, but it is compelling and well-acted.DVD features include two commentary tracks: one with the ctors who play Ana and her mother, and one with the director, producer and playwright; a short featurette, in Spanish or English, with comments by the cast and crew; and cast and crew information. Subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish, or in English only when Spanish is used or Spanish only when English is used.
Rating:
Summary: Real Women Have Curves
Review: I loved this movie. I think the story line was superb, the acting was excellent and the directing was way above average. There was just enough suspense to keep your interest and the ending was cleverly done. Anyone who has not seen this movie has missed a real delight.
Rating:
Summary: ABCD Awesome Movie!
Review: Such a great and realistik movie!!! The main character totally rocks!!! The whole plot is awesome!
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Dresses Aren't Just For Skinny Girls
Review: I liked this movie. I wasn't sure what to expect at first when we rented this movie. I ended up enjoying it a lot. It is a REAL movie and the characters don't live in a fantasy world with great things. I liked it because it shows the struggles that everyone goes through. It was really neat, and it had a lot of humour in it, too. And I know someone like the mom, so it hit close to home. Out of the 14 movies I watched this weekend, this was one of my favorites, if not my most favorite of the weekend! I recommend this movie highly. It's really good. ENJOY!!!!
Rating:
Summary: REAL MOVIES HAVE VERVE...
Review: ...and this one packs a mean punch! It is sad really to see this pretty much relegated to a speciality movie genre (perhaps because it's marketed by HBO?) while common farces like My Big Fat Greek Wedding make it to the top of popular minds. Theme-wise, and in liberal dollops of FeelGood comedy, both are about equally predictable. A pleasingly plump Ana (of Hispanic heritage) doesn't quite fit the typical beautiful woman boilerplate, the Petite Yet Voluptuous club of anorexic women. And instead is audacious enough to dream of BecomingSomething as her OldFashioned parents cherish her wedding off into a GoodFamily while chastity is still around. The cause for worry of course being her obesity, a clear social no-no (smacks a little of "Georgy Girl"). Note that this comes from parents who between them could outweigh an African gorilla themselves. But Real Women Have Curves does a much more compelling, credible, charming job of the theme. For one thing, the mother-daughter relationship is electric, Lupe Ontiveros is a rocket in her shrewd-mom role and much of the movie's delicious pace comes from the moments between the two women at intellectual loggerheads. Much to the credit of the movie, we are spared any inane ethnic humour and a lot of the tickles happen as we see Ana come of age and forge an identity for herself despite her parent's machinations. A lot of the humour is real, credible and hence hilarious. F'instance, the mother believes it is OK for her to fat "because I'm married"! Then there is a priceless scene where the two women disrobe in the heat of the moment and compare their tummy handles to see just how obese they are. Equally so, when Ana has her first physical encounter she tells her beau "Turn the lights on. I want you to see me. See, this is what I look like." He responds, "You're not fat. You're beautiful." It's easy to see why this film swept hearts away at Cannes (+ an Oscar?)... it's a touching coming-of-age ode to a culture that values family and a woman who values herself. Plus, the humour is actually amusing, a great thing in itself these days. And if that's not enough I believe America Ferrera and her physique are absolutely stunning.
Rating: 
Summary: Good But Not Great
Review: This movie had a wonderful theme to it although i feel that the theme was not as strongly portrayed as assumed. Yes, I feel America did a great job in her role and did much better than in her Disney Channel movies but... She could not pull the character as far as she could go because the script seemed limiting. Get the movie but the hype may disapoint you as it did me. Take the movie for what it is and you will certainly enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: endearing slice-of-life drama
Review: "Real Women Have Curves" feels a bit like a modern ethnic version of "Georgy Girl," featuring a free-spirited young woman named Ana who doesn't quite fit the mold of what society believes a woman should look like. Ana is a somewhat "overweight" high school senior living in East LA who has dreams of being the first person in her family to go to college. Her parents, however, have other plans for her life, which basically involve marriage, motherhood and a job working in her older sister's dress factory. Ana faces the struggle common to many young people who happen to be first-generation Americans: should she conform to the old-fashioned customs and traditions of her family or should she set out to make it on her own with all the advantages and opportunities available to people in this society? "Real Women Have Curves" avoids becoming a culture clash cliché through its keen observation of the minutiae of everyday life. Unlike most films, "Real Women" actually explores the day-to-day struggles of the working class in this country. The people in this film worry about whether or not they will be able to make a go of their businesses, whether or not their bills will get paid, whether or not a promising young student will be allowed to go to college and make something of herself or just end up as a cog in the system that absorbs so many of the underclass. It's these slice-of-life details that make the film interesting. Ana's main foil is her own mother, who believes not only that her daughter is overweight and, thereby, ruining her chances to make an acceptable marriage, but that she must forego college in order to help with the family business. The majority of the conflict in the film occurs between these two women, both equally hardheaded, moody and determined to get what they want. America Ferrara as Ana, Lupe Ontiveras as her mother and Ingrid Oliu as Estela, her hardworking, levelheaded sister, create characters who are believable, subtle and instantly recognizable. Writers Josefina Lopez and George LaVoo have a sharp ear for the way people actually speak. Director Patricia Cardoso doesn't try to impress us with fancy camera angles or clever cutting. Instead, she lets the story develop naturally, allowing us to eavesdrop on a milieu that may seem strange to some of us. Cardoso knows full well that the universal nature of what she is showing us will draw us into the story and these characters' lives. It's nice, too, to see a film in which the young people are spending their time trying to get into good colleges instead of indulging in all the high school hijinks and hoopla we usually see in more mainstream movies these days. True, the movie does sacrifice some of its verisimilitude by trying a bit too hard to be a "feel good" experience. One occasionally senses a certain straining for the upbeat moral message, as when Ana convinces her coworkers to strip down to their undies in the factory as a statement about how women should not be ashamed of their bodies just because they aren't a size six. But the film more than makes up for that in the unconventional way in which it treats Ana's departure from her mother at the end. "Real Women Have Curves" is a small movie but a universal one.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasant movie but not a great one
Review: On 2 levels, Real Women Have Curves has a great premise...1)a plot about the universal struggle between mothers and daughters and 2) the issue of self love and body acceptance among females who are not a size 2 or lower which is an issue that audiences should take to task with Hollywood and Madison Ave. First, the good: with her full-figure and obvious intelligence, lead America Ferrera is a welcome change from what is usually presented in movies. Hopefully, she will find roles that allow her to develop her obvious potential. The scenes of East L.A. are shot beautifully and the neighborhood comes alive and looks inviting. Unfortunately despite the talents of the film's cast, the execution of the movie doesn't follow through on it's promise. Characters are underwritten or rendered too simplistically. I also found the plot and story to be too predictable. For instance, the audience realizes what Carmen's "condition" is immediately and way before the character knows it herself. Also a scene in the factory where the female workers disrobe should ring truer than it does. Instead it seems too contrived. I didn't hate this film but I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. While it was good to see a Latino cast in non-stereotypical roles, the actors deserved better. The writing and acting is often leaden and the film while amusing at times is often preachy and will remind some viewers of the Afterschool Specials that ABC used to broadcast years ago. I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing this film. I would caution them to expect a pleasant movie but not a great one.
Rating:
Summary: forget about the title, this is a good movie
Review: I can't remember where I heard of this movie, but I can remember that I heard good things about it. So, I decided to rent the movie and give it a chance. I almost didn't, all because of the title. Real Women Have Curves? I'm a guy and while I do enjoy "chick flicks", the title of this one suggests more estrogen than "The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood". But I gave it a try anyway. I'm glad that I did. This is actually a good movie. The movie deals with Ana. Ana lives in a Mexican-American family and she is just about to graduate from high school. She is a very bright girl, but her family has no money to send her to college. Her mother forces her to work in the family factory (making $18 dresses that will sell for $600). Her mother calls her a fatty. Ana's English teacher is working to get her accepted to Columbia University, but her mother is against this ("it will tear the family apart"). The movie focuses mostly on Ana's family relationships and with the dress factory. The other focus of the movie is on Ana's brief relationship with a guy, but that seems only to show Ana maturing about herself and her weight. The one scene that sticks out as an image of feminine empowerment/classic chick flick is one in the factory where the women strip down to their undergarments and compare stretch marks from their fat and their cellulite. The scene is played for laughs (and gets some, I suppose), but other than this one scene, the movie is really for everyone and not just for women.
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