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Quinceañera
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Richard Glatzer
Wash Westmoreland
Directed by:
Richard Glatzer
Wash Westmoreland
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 4, 2006
DVD: January 9, 2007
Running Time: 90 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language, some sexual content and drug use
Starring Emily Rios, Jesse Garcia, Chalo González, David W. Ross, Ramiro Iniguez, Araceli Guzman-Rico, Jesus Castanos, and Johnny Chavez
Quinceañera is a look at what happens when teenage sexuality, age-old rituals and real estate prices collide. It is a story fueled by the racial, class and sexual tensions of Echo Park, a Latino neighborhood in transition. (Sony Pictures Classics)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Fluffer
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
TV Guide Ken Fox
One of the most perceptive movies about the gentrification of Los Angeles.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
Glatzer and Westmoreland live in Echo Park, and they have given their film a remarkable sense of place.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
The film is a wonderful choice for older teens and has considerable crossover appeal for adult audiences.
Read Full Review >Premiere Peter Debruge
On the surface, each of these characters fits a familiar Latino stereotype--teen harlot, "el bandido" and male buffoon--yet the movie insists on giving each person dimension.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Gianni Truzzi
What Quinceañera does offer is charm, sensitivity and intelligence.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Despite much of the turmoil depicted, there is a sweetness to parts of this film that is reminiscent of the 1961 British movie "A Taste of Honey."
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
As smart and warmhearted an exploration of an upwardly mobile immigrant culture as American independent cinema has produced.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves
Quinceanera took both the dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and it's easy to see why.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Quinceañera is a spirited and poignant exploration of the bonds and challenges facing a Latino family and the pains of a community undergoing a transition of its own.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Quinceañera sketches its characters and conflicts with warmth and empathy.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Using a semi-documentary approach, Glatzer and Westmoreland circumvent the considerable potential for sentimentality inherent in their story, instead taking a frank and direct approach to kids who, while far from hardened, are nowhere near innocent, either.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
The film is suffused with the generous, nonjudgmental spirit of Uncle Tomas, whose live-and-let-live attitude warms like the sun and who helps Magdalena and Carlos make the safe passage from adolescence to maturity.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
At its core, Quinceañera, a modest but remarkably poignant comedy, is the story of a neighborhood.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Quinceanera may be the year's most nonjudgmental film, and therein lies both its greatest strength and most naggingly troublesome weakness.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
It's not fierce, it's not angry, it's not radical, it's polite and what might be called "life-affirming." But it does have a couple of attributes most movies don't.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter James Greenberg
Life-affirming without being saccharine and enormously entertaining, film could be one of those rare specialty pictures that crossover to a mainstream audience.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
This is a fresh, spirited drama, charming and unpretentious. It mines a similar vein to recent Latino-themed pics such as "Raising Victor Vargas" and "Real Women Have Curves."
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
As sweet and gentle as it is, Quinceañera is quite clear-eyed about human cruelty and indifference. In structure, however, there is a circularity to the film that allows it to end on a well-earned upbeat note.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
It's an engaging, sweet-yet-sad neighborhood slice of life, anchored by pretty cinematography and a couple of nice performances.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Despite some awkwardness, this feature by writer-directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland is a fascinating look at the area's Mexican-American milieu and other local subcultures, full of feeling, insight, and touching performances.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The whole thing comes together surprisingly well, as a celebration of its own milieu, and of a tender teen's transformation into a strong young woman.
Slate Dana Stevens
Quinceañera is a rare bird of an indie, a sharp-eyed analysis of class conflict that still manages to leave you as choked up as a proud auntie on her niece's 15th birthday.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
A natural crowd-pleaser, this year's big Sundance award winner is both overly familiar and surprisingly fresh.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
Quinceañera isn't a work of art, nor does it want to be. But it is a crowd-pleaser.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
It's all such a throwback, and yet there's something rather sweet about the way this pot boils.
Read Full Review >Empire Kim Newman
Refreshingly free of the gangs, guns and drugs clichés associated with the milieu, this is a satisfying, spicy little picture.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
The movie does a good job of capturing how ostracism and liberation are sides of the same spinning coin.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Tthis isn't just any setup, is it: It's suds being sold as ethno-sensitive reality, a case of coveting thy neighbor's fiesta.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Armond A. gave it a7:
If there's one thing I hate it's a sappy, manipulative, feel-good-and-bring-the-tissues movie that makes conservative, church-going, anti-gay, abstinence-only, folks swell with self-satisfaction. This little movie-confection is as sweet for the rest of us. While it breaks no ground in technique or narrative, it contains a number of small surprises, particularly in its division of white hats and black hats among the various ethnic and social groups that form the fabric of the story. Perhaps this is the new century's version of William Saroyan's Human Comedy.
Nancy H gave it an8:
This movie grows on you. The supporting actors were obviously homegrown and the film had that flavor. But the story, humor and humanity carry this film thru. Give Emily Rios a few more years but Jesse Garcia is ready now. The actor who played Tio was the best--fabulous heart, voice, and humanity. It's amazing to see LA in this light--submerged in a subculture of Mexico. A very enjoyable film.
Paul K. gave it an8:
The premise of the film was original and interesting. The lead actors, particularly Emily Rios and Jesse Garcia firmly anchored this, despite the questionable acting ability of some of the supporting cast and the need for tighter editing. Still, Quinceanera is worth seeing in the theater, or on video.
Billy S. gave it a7:
Went to see this without knowing anything about it as it opened without fanfare at the local Art house for 1 week run before the theatre closes to be replaced by condos. What a great finale it was! A simple story with rich layered characters living in a world I knew nothing about. Emily Rios is an actress to look out for and the movie has an endearing quailty that draws you in like you're another member of the large extended family the movie captures. If you liked Maria Full of Grace, you'll love Quinceanera.
Marc K. gave it a7:
Good movie, and definitely worth seeing. Emily Rios shines as Magdalena, and I wouldn't be surprised if this was a "breakout" role for her, like Keira Knightley's role was for her in "Bend It Like Beckham." That being said, I don't think the film is deserved of all the hype it has received as a Sundance Award winner. I'm happy for the positive recognition that all the people who made this movie have received, but Quinceanera is not in the rarefied air of a "great" picture.
West Side gave it a0:
based completely on stereotypes. gee how original. i bet the screenplay was written in an LA starbucks (on the east side for some cred). 100% lame, even racist.
Jim G. gave it an8:
A great study in moral reasoning--gentrification, wealth, casual sex, theft, premarital sex, moral absolutism, friendship, dating, duty to family, unwed mothers, sexual orientation, property rights. Shows the incredible difference between a claim to morality and living a moral life.
