Two spoiled sisters -- Nora, a law student, and Mary, an undergrad party girl -- live with their father in a luxurious mansion in Beverly Hills. Mary has become so "90210" she refuses to admit she is of Mexican descent. When dad suddenly passes away, their posh lives are turned upside down. They discover they have been left penniless and are forced to move into their estranged aunt Aurelia's modest but lively home in the Latino-centric Boyle Heights neighborhood of East LA.
They are terrified to leave their world of privilege; neither Nora (Camille Belle) nor Mary (Alexa Vega) speak Spanish or have ever had to take on actual responsibility. The girls gradually adapt to their new environment; their BMW and Prius are traded for the public bus and a used car.
As they embrace the culture that for so long they refused to accept, they both discover romance, the true meaning of family, and they learn that the life of PRADA actually means NADA without love, family and community.
My review on this movie.
The Title of the movie was catchy, and yes it caught my wife's attention. We went over to watch it and one thing was clear. This is an example of how not to make a movie. The storyline is indeed nice with the touch of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I have no concern on what, which, where the setting is as it had fit well and the location played its part in the movie. But if you want to reach out to a much wider audience, the most basic thing a director could at least do is put subtitles.
Why you say? Almost 80% of the movie is set at East Los Angeles, and even some characters in the movie are saying this " You live in East L.A. and you don't know how to speak Spanish?" Well if this movie was targeted for L.A. only then putting subtitles are out of the question, but since you reach out to the whole world, not to mention the rest of the United States, the producers should have thought of putting subtitles for all the scenes that uses the Spanish language for us to understand, and yes there are many many scenes that they speak in their native Spanish.
Also worth mentioning is Wilmer Valderrama playing Bruno, his acting has come a long way from his days at The 70's show, where comedy was more of his forte, but now he has come of age, and worth a second look.
I hope this serves as a wake up call to the producers and directors of said movie, and even though I may say it is a good movie, others may have appreciated it more if they understood every bit of it.... peace out.
Catch From Prada to Nada now showing at your favorite theaters.
