Carlita's Secret

Usually when you see a video / DVD cover with a picture of a well-known star but a title that you don't recognize, it's a movie made early in their careers before they got famous which gets re-released to capitalize on their current fame, even if sometimes they only play a small part in it. Well, at least in the case of "Carlita's Secret" the cover doesn't lie: Eva Longoria IS the main star of this movie. The script (co-written by three people who have barely worked on anything else) is a complete mess (lamest part: after being witness to a club shootout at a club that results in a cop's death, Carlita (Longoria) changes her name and after a few years no one recognizes her, despite the facts that she looks EXACTLY the same, and she even works as a dancer at the same club!), most of the male characters can barely complete a sentence without the word "f**k" in one of its variations, and what little action there is is amateurish at best, but the film does tick off many of the right Eva Longoria boxes: she dances seductively, she kisses another woman, she wears a bikini, she fires a gun, etc. Plus, her co-star Alejandra Gutierrez (a Playboy Playmate) is a total knockout as well. So not all is lost. ** out of 4.

How could I give this movie 10 stars?

=)...I WAS IN IT !!, sure thats a lame reason but how many movies have you been in?

In response to some of the comments posted to date-

This movie was shot on a very low budget,less than a quarter of a million dollars, in defense of the prod. co. they did double the budget from their previous effort,SENORITA JUSTICE(which was shot on video for about 100k)and shot CARLITA'S SECRET on film. I thank them for hiring me and for shooting here in Miami/Ft Laud.

We started with a decent script,good casting and a 3 week/18 day shooting schedule.That meant trying to shoot 5 pages of script per day (when most productions shoot 1-3 pages a day)with little room for delay or error...most of what you see in the movie are 1st or 2nd takes,once we got it,we moved on.

I think all 3 female leads were great,especially EVA LONGORIA,who is actually as nice a person as she is talented and beautiful,and the movie is entertaining in a "soap opera on crack" sort of way.All the local actors did great too.(totally my opinion) peace,andy sottilare

Don't get me wrong. I love independent films. But that is not what this was.

This was a travesty of film-making. The director must have quit halfway through the film.

Here's my biggest beef with this "movie". THE MUSIC. Did the producers owe a debt to some local rappers because the soundtrack is so bad that it's actually funny. Whether the scene is sad or serious or funny, it's the same horrible rap music.

The plot is ridiculous, the set design was non-existent, the dialogue was enough to put a baby to sleep. They literally walked out of jail with not so much as a chase scene. Horrible.

If Eva Longoria wasn't in this monstrosity and my curiosity to see her wasn't prickled, they would give copies of this away at the local shooting range for target practice.

Horrible. I gave it a two only because of Eva.

It might interest you to know that we're privy to the filmmakers who created this piece:

First of all their composer--if you can call him that--wrote the music under the influence of drugs, so that's why you hear the same loop--which is what the producers wanted to use. What do you expect of penny-pinching white trash from Miami? These jokers get into the business to make a buck on you using canned stories and cheap sweatshop labor. They don't care about the quality at all--it's all about the bottom line.

We happen to know from some LA sources that the reason this movie was botched from the beginning is 1) they had no money to pay professionals properly, 2) the had no idea how to make a movie in post. The director was hampered from the beginning by scenes that had to be cut because execs at the company were flying around the country taking 5-martini lunches.

Secondly, the director shot only 60 pages of a 90 page script, but the producers wanted to the project to exceed 90 minutes. It came up short at 71 minutes--so the editors had to find all kinds of doubled up shots from other noble films like Miami Tail and Race Exploitation Whatnot to extend this wondrous vehicle for Eva Longoria.

Well, I rented this film at Hollywood Video because I recognized Eva Longoria's name from Desperate Houswives. She is much younger in this picture. It is a bit of a action thriller story set in Miami. Wild club scenes with music and that kiss that everybody has heard about. She however remains a true blue female. My boyfriend loved the scenes with the sexy ladies in their sexy outfits. I would say it was a decent film to watch on a rainy afternoon. I liked the Latino flavor. The ending was pretty good with the gun scenes. There are so many films out there that are not big screen titles that I enjoy seeing. Givng the independent producer a chance to have his talent seen. Some other titles I would recommend is 30 Miles. Another thriller with an old TV star.