Sem Prada Nem Nada

Ostensibly a modern retelling of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility", the sisters Nora Dominguez (Camilla Belle) and Mary Dominguez (Alex Vega) are now rich Latinas who grew up rich and ignorant of their culture. When they lose their father and their fortune, they are forced to live with their poor relatives in East L.A.

Jane Austen doesn't always translate completely to modern times. Marriage just doesn't have the same importance as in Jane's times. The culture has changed in 200 years. But if we take the story without the Austen expectations, it works relatively fine.

However not everything is as fine as others. Mary is a little too privileged and ignorant to be likable for my taste. Alex Vega is playing her too much like a stereotype. And the production value is a little bit limited. With good actors available, they needed a more experienced director. Angel Gracia could only give us a made-for-TV level of style. Overall this rom-com is much richer of a story than most. It is definitely better than most of Lifetime or Hallmark romance.

It has 5.5 IMDB rating. If IMDB rating is your major turn on, you better avoid it. However, if you want to watch a light movie that bounds you for fun, you should hit it. It didn't disappoint me. In fact, I enjoyed me evening through midnight.

I enjoyed this movie.It may not have the most amazing acting but I can tell the people in it are having fun. I loved the slices of Mexican/American culture. It is a pretty clean comedy compared to most PG- 13 ones. The expanded rating gives the reasons for the PG-13. It is a unique variation of the Jane Austin movie it is based on. I think the parts in Spanish are much more entertaining if you know Spanish. Although you can still enjoy it even if you do not know Spanish. If you know nothing of LA or some Mexican traditions this is probably not the movie for you. I liked it more for the culture and the moral lessons. I would watch this movie again which is a lot to say since most movies fail to entertain me after one sitting.

This movie has characters all over it, some with ridiculously short skirts and way too high heels. It has elements of a culture completely unrelated to my country, Australia, yet the peoples emotional connections come through clearly. I've known ethnic groups and come from half Italian one myself, enough to be able to recognise the clarity of the writing with respect to the beliefs and customs of these Mexican people living in LA. I have been to LA but didn't go to East LA apart from some fast food stands in Glendale ;) but the murals and artwork, the street appeal of it all is right there in this movie. It's very real and not just pandering to a pc crowd of wannabe humanitarians, it's the real deal. At the same time it's light hearted enough to be a romantic comedy but deep enough to capture some real human emotion. As I said in my title, it's much better than you'd think it will be. Damn girl that dress is short!

Believing this to be a comedy, I sat down to watch it, only to find out that the movie was more of a romantic drama, than it was a comedy. So was that a bad thing? No, because "From Prada to Nada" turned out to be a rather nice cultural movie of sorts.

The story is about two sisters who live in luxury in Beverly Hills, when their father drops dead on his 55th birthday. Finding out that their father was a risk-taker and is in serious debt, the sisters Nora (played by Camilla Belle) and Mary (played by Alexa Vega) have to pack up their things and move to East Los Angeles to live with their Mexican family. This is somewhat of a change of lifestyle and a whole new world for the rich man's daughters.

I will say that "From Prada to Nada" turned out to be more than just a 'riches to rags' story. It deals with finding yourself even when odds are stacked against you, and finding your heritage even after having deluded yourself otherwise. And, of course, it is a story of family bonds and of finding love.

There were aspects and parts of the movie that were venturing down the 'chick flick' lane, while other parts of the movie were so predictable that you saw it coming a mile away. But still, "From Prada to Nada" turned out to be an enjoyable and somewhat beautiful movie.

The people cast for the various roles were doing good jobs, and especially Camilla Belle and Alexa Vega carried the movie quite well. And it was nice to see Wilmer Valderrama in this movie as well.

If you enjoy a moving with a loving story and a story that is close to life and realistic, then you should give "From Prada to Nada" a watch, because it is well worth it.