Selena

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!

I remember seeing this film when it came out in theaters; needless to say, it has significant nostalgic value for me. Still, now that I'm older, I can take my rose colored glasses off and see it for what it realistically is. It has its flaws, it can be a bit corny in some scenes, but this was a late 90's film after all. The acting is great, all these actors/actresses really took the time to study the people they were portraying. Olmos is a convincing Abraham, the actor playing A.B. doesn't get much screen time considering he played a big part in Selena's career (writing the songs & producing) but when he does come out, he's very good. The actor playing Chris is great as well, got his shy mannerisms down.

I can honestly say, this is a movie that J.Lo does well in. Remember this film is the one that boosted her to stardom. See in this film she's playing Selena, she had to do Selena's mannerisms and act out Selena's personality as best as she could. She succeeds, if she didn't, she wouldn't be the woman you know her as now. It's true when they say that J.Lo needs to be grateful to Selena for her career. Why did J.Lo shine in this role ? Because she wasn't playing herself (like she does in 90% of her other, cheesy films) she had to play someone else and had to do it properly. She's a convincing Selena, even does her laugh really well, so it's hard to imagine anyone else do the role but I'm looking forward for the Netflix series nonetheless.

One thing that slightly disturbed me as I got older is how the family was so quick to releasing a biopic of their daughter, she had just passed away in 1995. The film has that rushed feeling to it (pacing is one of the flaws in this film) and it makes you wonder why the Quintanillas were so bent on having their version of things told and their version alone. I don't know you guys, I love Selena, but her family seems a bit shady sometimes.

If another film is made about Selena, I hope it's based off Chris' book and the Quintanillas don't block it from happening, again.

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.

I don't know bow many people in India has seen this movie. I did not about Selena at all before this movie. I had not seen any movie of Jenifer Lopez as well before this. One thing I can say the world definitely lost a great singer very early and Ms.Lopez is definitely an under rated actress. She is better off going good cinema than her pop singing career. Over all a great movie with excellent songs. The star cast was good and deserves a credit for the casting director. The director also goes a good job. But not to ignore that the storyline was true so that added to the whole effect of the movie. Deserves a all 10 star rating.

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.