Selena

Viewed September 28, 1999 on video

This Disneyfied rendition of a talented young singer's short, sweet life and tragic death drips with old-time Hollywood charisma. It is really out to please, and is thoroughly entertaining for many moments.  This movie hums along from start to finish, carried aloft by the verve of its music and an earnest cast that generates a genuine sense of la familia.

Selena's life story as depicted here is a little too clean-cut to believe, and it seems like the filmmakers were all set to make a saint of her; even her love affair with a wild-haired rock guitarist is wrapped in wholesomeness, as they do nothing more than embrace each other warmly and share PG rated kisses.  But who cares when the overall experience of this film is one of bouncing spirits and anticipation.  Aside from the music, the real delights are in the moments when director Gregory Nava can bring the sublime into his cliched story structure, such as when Selena's father Abraham solemnly lectures about the double burden of being Mexican American.  Watching his kids moan playfully and roll their eyes from the backseat is really refreshing. 

The increasing frequency of Selena's songs as the story nears its tragic end not only brings a rhythmic tension to the narrative, but underscores the urgency that the filmmakers must have had in making the film a complete musical and biographical package of the singer.  It's a Tejano-pop liturgy, and Selena gets her own icons to memorialize her: during certain concert scenes Nava inserts a blooming rose or a shining moon between the footage.  Her english songs "I will fall in love" and "dreaming of you" have a sense of ghostly yearning, and it's chilling to think that her death gives her songs more richness.  With heavy stuff like this going on the movie threatens to take itself too seriously, but Nava has the wisdom to keep the pace brisk, not dwelling too much on the bizarre lady who ends up killing her but implicating her in Selena's doom over a swift series of scenes.

Jennifer Lopez -- what is it about her?  The smile.  The voice that kids around with you, the attitude of a girl works for a living but tries not to take life too seriously.  The butt.  Toned down in Out of Sight, it gets to swing and bounce across concert stages and onto tour buses.  But aside from that, she's a complete package entertainer, who has all the charisma of the Selena we're supposed to believe existed, according to this mythical but exuberant biopic.

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