As Katy Perry’s “California Girls” plays over the opening credits, I can’t help but hope that From Prada To Nada will exceed my low expectations. But great pop music can’t save everything, and this movie is no exception. The movie tells the story of Norah and Mary, two well-to-do sisters who lose everything and must learn to live and love on their own.
The movie is based on Jane Austin’s Sense and Sensibility, with a Latin flare. When Mary and Norah’s father passes away, the girls discover he was bankrupt, and soon lose the lavish life they always knew. While it’s no 10 Things I Hate About You, the film tries its best to modernize a piece of classic literature.
Where it falls short the most is in the writing. The story isn’t well thought out in its adaptation, and the characters aren’t developed enough. And though it’s meant to be a story of undying love, the romances are almost overlooked in lieu of ethnic “self-discovery.” Our two leading ladies grew up in Beverly Hills, and when they are forced to live with their aunt in East LA, they are confronted head-on with their Mexican heritage. What is meant to be a journey of self-discovery comes across as more of a study of Latino stereotypes. The simple over-use of the term “Mexican” belittles the people the film is trying to portray in a positive, romantic light. Because the writers failed to develop the characters and their relationships, the film falls flat. There’s nothing I hate more than a weak protagonist, and this film has two of them.
Alexa Vega has grown up quite a bit since her Spy Kids days, and watching her as Mary, the slutty, Beverly Hills fashionista, is slightly uncomfortable. She doesn’t wear her sexy stilettos gracefully, and bumbles about on screen like a tomboy forced to wear heels. She does look great, but her body language does not scream sex symbol, as the casting director clearly hoped she would. Camilla Belle (famed for dating a Jonas Brother), on the other hand, is naturally gorgeous. She may not be the strongest actress, but she displays a confidence that makes her appealing. Belle plays Norah, a law student intent on having a successful career, and who will let nothing stand in the way of that success, especially love. It’s never clear why Norah is so driven to become a lawyer, when she has never worked a day in her life. Her sister Mary’s character makes a little more sense: a shallow diva interested only in money, shopping and boys.
Boys are what the story is ultimately all about, but they aren’t present or significant enough on screen. Mary doesn’t discover her true love until the very end of the film, and only then does she do so because we’ve been expecting it from the moment Wilmer Valderrama came on screen. Norah’s love interest comes in the form of the shaggy-haired Nicholas D’Agosto, who plays Edward, the wealthy lawyer with a big heart. The two are supposed to have had some connection while working on a case together, but sparks don’t fly bright enough for the audience to see. We want them to fall madly for one another, but they are just acting according to a weak script, and not with passion. The sisters’ relationship is the strongest in the film, and the two actresses do play off one another nicely.
All in all the movie was better than my low expectations, and if you put aside that fact that it’s based on a classic novel, it’s a halfway decent teenage rom-com. Fans of the Jonas Brothers are sure to find the girls’ antics hilarious and swoon over the young men who briefly appear in their lives. But for your average movie-watcher, put down the remote, sit in the nearest park and pick up Sense and Sensibility.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Go behind the scenes with "From Nada To Prada - The Making Of," a twenty-minute segment where we learn that, for some reason, the film took six years to make. In "SPARC Your Imagination With Judy And Wilmer," artist Judi Baca discusses the part she played in helping Wilmer Valderrama create artwork in the film. "Mi Familia" is a roundtable discussion with the cast, followed by your typical bloopers, deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer.
"From Prada To Nada" is on sale May 3, 2011 and is rated PG13. Comedy, Drama. Directed by Angel Gracia. Written by Fina Torres,Luis Alfaro, Craig Fernandez. Starring Alexa Vega, Camilla Belle.
