Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It

Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It is the ultimate in-depth documentary about one of Hollywood's most trailblazing actors. This film is the absolute tear-jerking, hysterical, educational experience of the year. By the movie's end, you just want to go for it too.

Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It recounts the life story of critically acclaimed actress Rita Moreno. Rita, who is best known for her roles of Anita in West Side Story and Carmela in The Electric Company, stars in the documentary, along with stars like Whoopie Goldberg, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eva Longoria and more. The film features clips from a large variety of Rita's films throughout her career as well as from award shows, and photographs and footage from her personal life, including interviews with her friends and family.

This film shines a light on how incredible Rita is, and how human as she leads the way for Puerto Ricans and all Hispanics in the 1960s, stands up for women's rights and fights to be able to choose which roles she plays. She deals with being type-cast as an island or Hispanic character, and decides and turns down roles that would shove her into a tiny box. We see the good, the bad, and the ugly side of Rita's life, not just grazing at the surface. It shows how Rita struggled with hating her Hispanic roots, because it limited her as an actress. She tells how she was sexually abused, was forced into an abortion by her then-boyfriend Marlon Brando, and tried to commit suicide. The film shows exactly why Rita is such a beloved actress and person. Despite all she's been through, she never gives up and learned to value the woman she is. Rita grows into her own person throughout the movie, telling how everything that put her down at the time just made her stronger.

The moral of the film is to stay strong and keep fighting. Rita is not eighty-nine years old and one of 15 EGOT winners (acronym for the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards), just because she gave up. Being a Puerto Rican actress in New York and trying to find your way in the world wasn't as easy as Moreno makes it look. She has maintained her humbleness and blossomed into a modern woman who fights for human rights and looks great while doing it.

I give Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 13 to 18, plus adults. It is available in theaters June 18, 2021. By Heather S., KIDS FIRST!

IN BRIEF: A loving documentary about the EGOT winner.

JIM'S REVIEW: (RECOMMENDED) Rita Moreno has been in the biz for many decades and has broken many racial barriers and and achieved many well-earned accolades and this documentary, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It. This film is a candid look at her legendary life and status. Solidly directed by Mariem Pérez Rier, the film is a glowing tribute to this actress, perhaps too glowing. Filled with gossipy tidbits from mostly interviews by Ms. Moreno there are comments from some of her friends and co-stars such as Justina Machado, George Chakiris, Lin-Manual Miranda, Terrance McNally, and Hector Elizondo, plus devoted fans like Mitzi Gaynor, Eva Longoria, Gloria Estefan, Karen Olivo, Whoopi Goldberg, and Norman Lear. An all-star cast for an all-star.

Ms. Moreno's early family life is rarely on view as the film focuses primarily on her show biz accomplishments and the obstacles she faced throughout her long movie career. She continually discusses her need for fame and yearning for the spotlight, while bemoaning her B movie roles prior to her Oscar-winning role as Anita in West Side Story and her uphill climb after that win. Her personal life is a bit of a shamble until she finds some stability in a marriage and begins her own family later in her life. Political activism and her passion for liberal causes like the civil right movement in the 60's are also covered and exulted. But darker times come to her journey of self-worth and acceptance. Ms. Moreno also confesses to her sexual harassment encounters and date rape by her agent, her volatile 7 year romantic relationship with Marlon Brando, and her need for therapy thereafter. All insightful and sincere cinematic moments, but one wished there were more interest shown with longer clips of her musical performances to reinforce her true star power.

One troubling aside to this reviewer: the side-stepping of stereotyping in many of her earlier roles. Except for a small part in Singin' in the Rain, the actress bolstered and perpetuated the Latin spitfire bombshell or native girl on screen. Granted, those were the parts she was given, but with today's public outcry of racial profiling and her participation in playing other ethnicities during Hollywood's Golden Age, those choices are purposely downplayed in this film. At one point, she disparages her role as Tuptim in The King and I as a silly hapless victim, but she never takes accountability for her one-dimensional stereotypes early in her career that pathed the way for better and more significant roles. Ms. Moreno somehow avoids The Hattie McDonald backlash, an issue that rarely tarnished her reputation and never is honestly addressed here. (The actress does come full circle with her Tony-winning performance in The Ritz, playing an over-the-top third-rate caricature named Googie Gomez, which could have been a perfect segue to that accountability factor that the film avoids.)

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It remains a fascinating documentary. She seemed to outlive the stigma and shame of racial profiling and made her mark as a cultural icon and survivor in her later years. She has skillfully crafted a memorable career and her accomplishments are quite a remarkable legacy for a poor girl from Puerto Rico. The filmmakers do paint a loving, if biased, portrait of this talented woman amid some gaps in storytelling, but we never really get the entire picture of her struggles and defeats, only more and more emphasis on her many many successes. (GRADE: B)

Rita Moreno, an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award-winning artist, helps tell the story of her incredible 70-year career in Hollywood with audacity and humor.

Poor thing, she, like all of us women, was underestimated, subjugated, exploited, sexualized, diminished simply for being women, and with the added bonus of being an actress and a Latina... She suffered sexual abuse from a director at the beginning of her career, and professional harassment during filming that ended up being a nightmare, and the disgust of Marlon Brando, who forced her to have an abortion, cheated on her, humiliated her, and a toxic relationship that led her to attempt suicide... The first Latina artist to win an "EGOT" Emmy, Grammy, Oscar.

This is a 90-minute documentary on the long-lasting star who turns 90 this year. Clunky title but it gets explained toward the end of the show. The film documents Moreno's early years in Puerto Rico, arrival in New York City as a kid, and her eventual entry into films under the thumb of Louis B. Mayer.

Lots of clips from Moreno's early films going back to 1950. Most, but not all, of these early roles were of the "dusky maiden" type. She played all manner of Hispanics, Indians, Polynesians and anything else that required dark make-up. Much time is spent on WEST SIDE STORY and how it didn't make her a major film star. Interesting but not earth shaking.

One complaint is that none of the film clips were named and only a few were talked about. It often looked like one of those YouTube tributes.

Another complaint is the constant whining about the roles she was given and how she rarely got to play non-ethnic parts. This said while demanding that only Hispanics should play the major Hispanic roles in films like the remake of WEST SIDE STORY or IN THE HEIGHTS. You can't have it both ways.

Talented? Yes. Likable? Not so much.

The positive aspects of this documentary were that it really reminded me (and others, I'm sure), of what an immense talent she is, as well as being so smart and attractive. She has had a career to be very proud of, and one that few will ever be able to duplicate.

The negative aspects of this documentary (as some others have already mentioned in this IMDb section), is the "woe is me", victim mentality regarding her career, particularly discussed by Gloria Estefan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eva Longoria, as well as a few Latina academics. While I have no doubt that there were many roadblocks and difficult times for Moreno to get to where she got, this happens to most people on their way to success...not just in Hollywood, but in many other career choices. I don't think Judy Garland had it made. Mira Sorvino's career crashed after she won her Oscar. They are both White. I could go on and on.