When the news reported that Selena Quintanilla was murdered, I wondered, "who was Selena?" The obituary mini-biographies told me almost nothing about her, except that she was fantastically popular as a Tejano singer.
The movie was made with the Quintanilla family's backing, so it's no surprise that it portrays Selena very favorably. But there's no hint of scandal in anything I've read about her, and the movie is fairly hard on Abraham, her father, manager, and the movie's executive producer. Maybe she fully deserved the movie's praise.
The movie was centered on her childhood and rise to fame. Her murder was just the conclusion to her story. That was a good choice: Told as the story of a musician rising from obscure child star to Grammy winner, but staying close to her family and grateful to her fans, the movie is unusual and interesting. Had it been told as the story of a star betrayed by a trusted associate, or the story of a person shot dead by an estranged friend, it would have been unfortunately ordinary, and less interesting.
Jennifer Lopez was amazing. She always seems right as the dutiful daughter who also pays the family's bills with her talent. Even when she's willful, awareness of likely consequences shows in her face. She does a fine job lip-synching the musical pieces too. Finally, her physical resemblance to the real Selena is amazing.
The other Selena actress, Rebecca Lee Meza as young Selena, was also very impressive, except for occasional lip-synch lapses. She looks a lot like I'd expect Jennifer Lopez as Selena to look like at a younger age.
The movie worked as entertainment, and it worked as a sympathetic biography. I liked the Spanish language music a lot too.
