From Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility” read the opening credits of From Prada to Nada, a mid-August movie if ever there was one. ‘A long way from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility’ might’ve been a more honest credit, but it’s hard to make the case for the prosecution since the film – like the Jane Austen novel – has two sisters, one of whom is sensible (reads books) while the other is more flighty (likes to shop). Yes; but Jane Austen also had a feminist slant – the sisters weren’t allowed to inherit their father’s estate because they were women – whereas here they just become poor. And Jane Austen didn’t have a distracting ethnic sub-plot, whereas this one wastes much energy on getting the sisters – Beverly Hills Latinas who don’t even speak Spanish – to reconnect with their Mexican roots on their move to the barrio. And of course the sisters in Jane Austen were unable to find men because of the strictures and conventions of 18th-century society – whereas here Nora (the sensible one) has a rich, handsome, totally eligible lawyer declare his love for her at the end of Act 2, only to reject him because she wants to save her energy for her career (as a lawyer). Even Camilla Belle, an actress with a touch of the uncanny, can’t make that scene anything other than ridiculous.
Belle is an unusual actress, because it’s clear she isn’t much of an actress – she’s no great shakes at reading lines and that kind of thing – yet she’s a striking presence. Her sleepy eyes seem full of hidden knowledge, even wisdom. She has the hazy gravitas of an old soul – and can, with the right encouragement, be extraordinary, as she was alongside Daniel Day Lewis in The Ballad of Jack and Rose some years ago. Alexa Vega, once of Spy Kids, is a more familiar package, a perky denizen of innocuous tween movies – and she does what’s expected as Mary, the spoiled-brat sister who defines herself thus: “My iPod is full, I don’t wake up before 10, and no habla espanol!”.
All that changes when beloved Daddy keels over on his 55th birthday, revealing a hitherto-unknown half-brother and a precarious financial situation. In a word, Daddy’s bankrupt, meaning Nora and Mary have no inheritance, the half-brother and his bitchy wife get the house, and the girls have to move from Beverly Hills to the wilds of East L.A. “No more shopping!” wails Mary; “No high-protein diet!”. The barrio is a whole other world, with its colourful murals and signs in Spanish. “We’re going to get shot!” she frets – but their auntie, who agrees to take them in (because family is “what counts”), tries to reassure her: “Not everything that stinks is caca,” she opines, which is probably not the kind of line Adriana Barraza foresaw in her future when she got Oscar-nominated for Babel five years ago.
Expectations are low for a film like this, aimed at the straight-to-video end of the teen market – and most of it is painless enough, but it runs out of steam. It only takes a few scenes for the girls to adapt to their new environment – there’s not much to adapt to, except chicken-soup for dinner and a bunch of illegal immigrants sewing clothes in the living-room – and a few more scenes before they’re salsa-dancing and downing tequila shots at the big family party. The film could’ve ended right there, but of course we still have half an hour of tedious romantic entanglements, Nora realising she maybe shouldn’t have turned down that rich handsome lawyer (duh!), Mary having to choose between the clean-cut TA who seduces her with Garcia Lorca and the stubbled neighbour who fixes her car. One of these men turns out to be a cad, the other teaches neighbourhood kids how to paint murals (they tell “our stories,” he announces proudly). Can you guess which is which?
So it goes. Nora proves her brilliance as a legal mind by winning a case for some cleaning ladies she meets on the bus (“What about third-party evidence?” she says, and the rich handsome lawyer blinks in confusion). Mary goes to work, getting mixed reviews from the stubbled Mexican mechanic (“Is that a new word you just learned, ‘work’?”). Nora calls Mary a whore, Mary calls Nora a spinster – but they kiss and make up, because that’s how it goes in this fluffy, forgettable mid-August movie. From Prada to Nada is impossible to recommend, but also harmless. It’s dull, but unlikely to offend anyone. Except Jane Austen, of course.
FROM PRADA TO NADA*
DIRECTED BY Angel Gracia
STARRING Alexa Vega, Camilla Belle, Wilmer Valderrama
US 2011 107 mins.
