Selena (1997) Reviews

• Live Life To The Fullest Like Selena Did

  Chrysanthepop2008-06-05

  'Selena' tells the fascinating story of the late Selena Quintanilla, the first famous female tejano singer. In her short life, with the support of her parents and husband, the vivacious young Selena lived the dream of every girl. Nava does a fine job of telling the story. He shows us how happy Selena was with her life (even though there were ups and downs) and she lived it to the fullest. In her short 23 years she achieved what would take a lifetime for some. This was a life that wasn't a waste because Selena knew hot to live life. But the best thing about 'Selena' is Jennifer Lopez. Those were the days when Lopez acted her heart out on screen as has also been apparent in 'Out of Sight' and 'Blood and Wine'. Not only that, but Lopez looks stunning. Many prefer the way she looks today but in 'Selena' there's an innocence and honesty about her beauty and this coupled with her natural and spirited performance is a delight to watch. The supporting cast that includes Edward James Olmos, Jon Seda and Constance Marie are all very good too. I loved the way the soundtrack was used in the film and it brings a lot of energy to the story. The cinematography is quite good but I did not like the 3 split screen. Even though we know the tragic fate of Selena, this film reminds us that it's more important to live a big life than a long life. Make full use of what you have and take your chance. That's what Selena did. She was loved by her friends and family and won the hearts of millions. Strongly recommended.

• What a lovely biopic

  smatysia2000-05-02

  What a lovely biopic. I had barely heard of Selena when she was killed, and I'm no fan of Tejano music. But this picture was a wonderful tribute to the young talent. The movie is a celebration of her life, rather than fixating on her death, as one would expect with her family so involved (controlling) with the film. This approach also just felt right. I'm sure that Hollywood, if it had had its way, would have sensationalized this aspect to the max. I don't know how much of the film is factual, and how much is apocryphal. A local reviewer wrote that a true biography of Selena would have to wait a few years, and be done without a Quintanilla looking over both shoulders. All I can do is rave about Jennifer Lopez. Her beauty, her talent, her sheer magnetism flows right out of the screen. She was amazing. Since her biography subject died so young, she was able to avoid the problems, inherent in the genre, of trying to age the actress to match the aging of the subject. Constance Marie, who I'm not familiar with, was quite good as Selena's mother, although she did have to deal with the question of appearing to age 15 years. Every cast member seemed right for their part, and everyone did very well. The film seemed well-directed, in that I never thought about the director at any time during the film. Overall, the movie was very sweet, with obvious tragic overtones. Highly recommended.

• ~Selena Quintanilla-Perez~

  famousgir12001-12-27

  Selena is the true-story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, a talented young Mexican singer, who was discovered by her own father at the age of 10. Selena had everything going for her, a good family, whom she was very close with, a great husband, loads of fans and of course her music career that kept getting stronger. Selena had even won a prestigious Grammy award for Best Mexican/American Singer and was the most popular Latin singer at that time. Until, all that was taken away from her, when at the age of 23 in 1995, Selena's 'friend' and fan club manager, Yolanda Saldivar murdered her, after Selena had confronted Yolanda about money, she had stolen. I'm one of the many people out there who only heard about Selena in the last couple of years. I can't remember where I first heard of her. The internet, maybe, but the things I did hear were all good and she sounded like a very talented and popular young singer and of course I was really shocked to hear about how she died. I was really interested to watch the movie Selena and when I finally got to watch it, I thought it was really great. It tells you the whole story of Selena's life, from when she was just a young girl, to her meeting guitarist Chis Perez and secretly getting married to him, we see her singing at sold-out concerts, all the wonderful fans she had and not only that but we find out that Selena was planning to have kids and she was just about to release her first English language album, all until she was she was terribly murdered. I thought the end of the movie, where there was real footage of the real Selena, was beautifully done and it was great to see clips of the real Selena singing at her concerts, meeting her fans and just having fun with her family, friends and husband. I thought the whole cast in the movie were great, Jennifer Lopez played Selena really well and deserved any award she received or got nominated for. The rest of the cast including, Edward James Olmos, who played Selena's father and Jon Seda, who played Selena's husband Chris Perez did really well too. After watching the movie and hearing Selena, (Jennifer Lopez was lip-synching to Selena's voice. I thought that was good too.) I am going to get hold of some of Selena's music. I hope her memory will live on forever. Selena, the movie is highly recommended. Whether you're fan or not, see it.

• A Moving Tribute

  tfrizzell2000-11-25

  Jennifer Lopez proved that she was a high-class actress with this true story of the Tejano Superstar whose life was cut short by a disgruntled employee. Lopez shines and Edward James Olmos is super (as usual) as her tough-nosed father. The rest of the cast is adequate, but the show is shared between Lopez and Olmos. The screenplay is a little sappy, but fine overall. Director Gregory Nava is always focused and this keeps the film interesting throughout. A fine film all the way. 4 stars out of 5.

• Great movie and so so sad

  Monika-52000-03-03

  I don't know much about the real Selena, so I don't know how much of the movie was fact and what was fiction. But even if this movie wasn't based on a real singing superstar, it would have been great to watch anyway. Jennifer Lopez is stunning in every way as Selena. She hits all the right chords as a teenager, a woman in love, a dutiful daughter and sister, and a singer adored by legions of fans. And she loved everyone of them right back. The actors playing her family are all great, too (especially her father). Ms. Lopez also has a sweet, natural chemistry with Jon Seda as Chris. Their relationship is so real because they were friends first...friends who fell in love. Ms. Lopez also does a great job lip-synching Selena's songs, and the ending will bring tears to your eyes. A must see!