Luminarias

It was funny and I enjoyed it. I have sat at tables with a group of Latinas and heard similar comments. This movie was about a group of friends whose commonality was their ethnicity. The ladies were letting loose and having fun. And as an audience participant, I was having fun watching them.

I had to disagree with the other reviewer. Just because a woman is a "professional" doesn't mean that she has to use the lingo of her trade all the time. And have heard "professionals" who, away from the job, revert back to their comfort speech. That is what these ladies were doing.

Lower your expectations now, Luminarias is about as deep as the typical Hollywood produced romantic comedy. But unlike that mainstream fluff, Luminarias has a beautiful (and sexy) multicultural cast and quite a few fun and atypical romantic couplings: older women and younger men, almost every possible type of interracial relationship, rich women and poor men, and even a random gay relative. The main flaw--at times it seems that the movie is trying a bit too hard to counteract every stereotype in most mainstream romances. Considering how many stereotypes abound in say, a Freddie Prinze Jr movie, that's a lot to make up for in a low-budget film. Bonus points for including a woman-centered sex scene.

I can relate to this Movie. Some strong points are brought up in this film revolving around the stereotypical thinking of Anglos. It's great to see that alot of latinos were used here not just as actors but as producers, writers, and crew! WAKE UP HOLLYWOOD!!!!!! We need more lead Brown actors on the BIG SCREEN. IT's their time now. LAtinos make up for almost 50% of the profits in Hollywood's pockets. Make movies that they can relate to like this one. VIVA LOS LATINOS AMERICANOS!

"Luminarias" tells of four middle-aged, middle class Latina best friends, Mexican-American women, who meet at the title restaurant in L.A. periodically for conversation. Andrea (Frenandez), a lawyer, is the centerpiece of this slice-of-latin-life flick and also the playwright. A mediocre film as films go, "Luminarias" deals with issues of family, ethnicity, romance, and more as it wanders around the genres from sitcom-like comedy to more serious drama, uncertain of its purpose but unabashedly delivering heartfelt entertainment regardless. Should appeal most to Mex-Am females. C

Note - If we can trust the IMDB.com stats, this is a real love it or hate it flick with over 1/4 scoring it a 1 and over 1/4 giving it a 10 and everyone else scattered in between.

Though some of the acting was a little stiff, the situations and dialogue were genuine and a pleasure to experience. Not only are the situations relatable, the characters are people that you know. Scott Bakula, always fantastic, is a treasure in this picture. The music is varied and wonderful. I rarely purchase movies for my permanent collection, but this is one I will be adding. The story holds up. The writing is outstanding. DVD extras round out the fun. As for a previous comment regarding how the characters speak depending upon who they are with - who doesn't do that? When we speak with our elders and our employers, a certain level of respect and sentence structure is required. When we talk with our friends, casually in a group over a beer, the language needn't be so structured.