Real Women Have Curves

Plot

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, Ana reluctantly agrees to take a job at the factory to help her out, while she applies for college scholarships without her mother's knowledge. Ana's job at the dress factory proves to be a real eye opener; she gains a new respect for Estela's business acumen, but is also appalled by the low wages and unpleasant working conditions that are part and parcel of the garment industry. While Ana is not unattractive, she carries more than a few extra pounds, a subject her mother mentions at every available opportunity, and as Ana encourages her co-workers at the shop to stand up for themselves and gain a greater perspective of their own worth, she takes a long hard look at her own self-image. Real Women Have Curves won the Audience Award at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, while actresses America Ferrera and Lupe Ontiveros received a Special Jury Prize at the same festival for their performances. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Review

Patricia Cardoso's debut feature, Real Women Have Curves, is a buoyant and beautifully executed coming-of-age tale. Its overwhelming cheeriness may strain credulity at times, yet all but the most cynical viewers will find themselves swept along by its humor and heart. The film's great strength is the perfectly pitched performance of newcomer America Ferrera as Ana, a smart teenager blossoming into self-confidence and maturity, despite the incessant criticism of her amusingly dyspeptic mother, Carmen (the wonderful Lupe Ontiveros of Chuck and Buck). Director Cardoso gets consistently strong performances from her cast, and keeps the tone sunny and warm throughout the film, despite the occasionally serious setbacks her characters face. Ana works in a sweatshop making expensive dresses for Bloomingdale's, and the fact that the sweatshop is owned by her enterprising older sister, Estella (Ingrid Oliu), and that Ana eventually brings out a certain esprit de corps among her co-workers doesn't quite gloss away that unpleasant truth. Similarly, when Ana goes to visit her father at work, she finds him at the huge estates where he does gardening work. Ana does go off on a couple of tirades about her working conditions, but Cardoso, working from a script by Josefina Lopez and George LaVoo, has chosen to deal with issues of economic disparity that underlie the story in a subtle, almost offhand way. Her focus is primarily on the clash of values and personalities between the mother and daughter. Cinematographer Jim Denault (Boys Don't Cry), whose talents have elevated so many low-budget films, also deserves mention for his fine work here. Real Women Have Curves won the Dramatic Audience Award and a special award for the performances of Ferrera and Ontiveros at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. The film was also shown as part of the New Directors/New Films Festival in New York. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Cast

• America Ferrera - Ana
• Lupe Ontiveros - Carmen
• Ingrid Oliu - Estela
• George Lopez - Mr. Guzman
• Brian Sites - Jimmy

Jorge Cervera, Jr.; Felipe de Alba; Soledad St. Hilaire; Lourdes Perez; Jose Gerardo Zamora Jr.; Manuel Edgar Lujan

Credit

Patricia Cardoso - Director, Effie Brown - Producer, George LaVoo - Producer, George LaVoo - Screenwriter, Josefina Lopez - Screenwriter, Josefina Lopez - Play Author

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