Metacritic reviews

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It has a lot of star power: Spielberg, Gloria Estefan, Eva Longoria, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Whoopi Goldberg and her Electric Company co-star Morgan Freeman. But none outshine the feisty subject herself.

This charming documentary is more than an IMDb-scroll come to life, avoiding the usual pitfalls of generic biopics thanks in no small part to Moreno’s surprising candor and vulnerability.

At once an affecting celebration of a truly peerless icon and a critique of the industry that almost broke her, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It has the enormous responsibility of synthesizing the grandeur of a life well lived, bumps and all, and the unbreakable, giving spirit that took to get her to the pinnacle of respect and recognition.

Moreno felt as if she didn’t have much worth as she struggled, she says. One of the most satisfying things about the film is that through decades of struggle she clearly has found that worth. It’s in her confidence, the confidence of someone who has come out the other end of a long struggle with the knowledge than nothing is going to get her down. You can’t get the best of her. It’s inspiring.

The film might be conventionally structured, but the singular ebullience and warmth of its resilient subject make it highly entertaining.

Mariem Perez Riera’s celebratory documentary covers the full sweep of Moreno’s seven decades long career but also addresses her significance as a trailblazing Latina woman and political activist.

Coming away from “Just a Girl,” it’s impossible not to be convinced that Moreno is the rare screen legend who found a way to stick the Hollywood landing.

Moreno is given full rein of her story, which doubles as a case study in the highs and lows of showbiz for a woman of color.

The first Latina actress to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony — the “EGOT” superfecta — Moreno doesn’t just seem to keep getting better and better, but more and more interesting.

I think what sets Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It apart from other end-of-life docs is that this one is just so honest, so forthcoming, and so remarkably detailed. Mariem Pérez Riera has perfectly captured an American icon at the moment we need her the most.