Selena

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

For all its simplicity, however, the film is entertaining, even uplifting, with Lopez giving a stellar, confectionary performance.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This is a simple story of hope and triumph, of one girl with the drive to succeed defying the odds and following her dream. It's not an original tale -- movies like this abound -- but Nava's point-of-view is fresh.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Selena succeeds, through Lopez's performance, in evoking the magic of a sweet and talented young woman.

Washington Post Richard Harrington

The film's many musical scenes can be riveting. But Selena is less concert film than family drama, particularly focusing on Selena's struggles with her father after she falls in love with, and eventually marries, her guitarist Chris Perez (heartthrob Jon Seda).

Variety Todd McCarthy

Although Nava's screenplay hits the subject of every scene right on the head and doesn't ask for much subtlety or subtext, Lopez is wonderful to watch in the dramatic sequences as well as in the numerous musical interludes.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Selena is in part a completely predictable Latino soap opera that should satisfy those who complain they aren't making movies like they like used to.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

I enjoyed quite a bit of it, in large part because of the energy and charisma of Jennifer Lopez in the title role.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

On its own good-natured terms, Selena' is both pleasant to watch and instructive in familiarizing a movie audience with the Texan-Mexican borderland music known as Tejano.

Washington Post Eric Brace

The hagiography of Selena (executive produced by Selena’s father) will please her fans, but doesn’t give much insight into the person behind the star.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The best thing going for Selena is Selena herself, played with verve, heart, and a great deal of grace by the increasingly busy Jennifer Lopez (Money Train, Jack, Blood & Wine).

TV Guide Sandra Contreras

But the film soars when the stunning Jennifer Lopez beams and struts her stuff in a series of exhilarating performance sequences; she's a glitzy, thrilling icon a la the made-over Olivia Newton-John of Grease.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The dialogue swings between platitudes and clichés, but the acting is lively and the music will set even lazy toes tapping.

Slate Sarah Kerr

The new movie of Selena's life ponderously carves each element of the myth in stone, as if this 23-year-old were a bust to be included on Mount Rushmore.

Austin Chronicle Russell Smith

Unfortunately, for all his large soul and exquisite mastery of image, Nava is also one of the worst writers to ever accrue more than two major-movie screenwriting credits.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Missing is a sense of the interior life behind the smiling face that Selena showed the world.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

The movie, directed and written by Gregory Nava ("My Family/Mi Familia"), is only so-so but Lopez, who appeared recently in "Jack'' and "Blood and Wine," is so vibrant that you almost forgive the movie's paint-by-numbers script and moldy formula.

San Francisco Examiner Walter Addiego

You can't help cheering for Selena, but the good feeling is diminished by the sense that her story's been simplified and sanitized.