Selena (1997)
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64% of critics liked it
(39 reviews) -
76% of users liked it
(149,641 ratings)
Selena Quintanilla was a major figure in Tejano music, a Grammy-winning recording artist, a beloved star in the American Southwest and Mexico, and seemed poised to cross over into mainstream popularity on the U.S. pop charts when she was murdered on March 31, 1995 by the president of her fan club.… More Selena Quintanilla was a major figure in Tejano music, a Grammy-winning recording artist, a beloved star in the American Southwest and Mexico, and seemed poised to cross over into mainstream popularity on the U.S. pop charts when she was murdered on March 31, 1995 by the president of her fan club. Written and directed by Gregory Nava, this biopic concentrates on Selena's relationship with her family and her rise to fame, dealing only briefly with her tragic death. Abraham Quintanilla (Edward James Olmos) is a veteran musician who leads a family-based singing group, The Dinos. At a young age, he notices that his daughter Selena (played as a child by Becky Lee Meza) has a strong singing voice, and he works her into the act (her big number is a version of Over the Rainbow). However, as she grows older, Selena (played as an adult by Jennifer Lopez) wants to establish her own musical identity; while her heritage is Mexican-American, her primary language is English, and her favorite artists are American pop acts like Donna Summer. While Selena and Abraham sometimes argue about the musical direction of the group, he always respects and supports her talent, and her blend of Tejano roots music and danceable pop rhythms soon sparks a revolution in Latin music. Selena later earns the wrath of her father when she becomes romantically involved with Chris Perez (Jon Seda), a rebellious and long-haired guitarist hired to play with the group, but when they elope and Selena convinces Abraham that their love is sincere, Chris is welcomed into the family. After a long string of successes on the Latin charts and playing to a sellout crowd at the Houston Astrodome and a crowd of 100,000 at a stadium in Monterey, Mexico, Selena begins recording her first album in English, which is expected to make her a mainstream star on the level of Whitney Houston or Gloria Estefan. However, the fates decreed it was an album she would never complete. Selena was produced with the participation of the Quintanilla Family (Abraham was executive producer), and Selena's own recordings were used on the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Gregory Nava
- Written By
- Gregory Nava
- Genres
- Drama
PG,
- In Theaters
- Mar 21, 1997 Wide
- Studio
- Warner Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Todd McCarthy, Variety
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.
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Stephen Holden, New York Times
By the end of the film, Selena has been all but canonized.
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Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
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.
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Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
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?
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
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.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Jennifer Lopez
as Selena Quintanilla
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Edward James Olmos
as Abraham Quintanilla
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Rebecca Lee Meza
as Young Selena
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Jon Seda
as Chris Perez
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Constance Marie
as Marcela Quintanilla
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Jacob Vargas
as Abie Quintanilla
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Lupe Ontiveros
as Yolanda Saldivar
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Richard Coca
as Bobby-Dinos 1961
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Panchito Gomez
as Young Abraham-Dinos 1961
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Sal Lopez
as Juan Luis
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Leon Singer
as Concert Promoter
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Victoria Elena Flores
as Young Suzette
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Jackie Guerra
as Suzette Quintanilla
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Rafael Tamayo
as Young Abie
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Ruben Gonzalez
as Joe Ojeda
- John Seda
- Alex Meneses
