Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
Based on the second memoir by acclaimed writer Esmeralda Santiago, "Almost a Woman" is a historically vivid but dramatically stunted coming-of-age drama.
Directed by Betty Kaplan, the film follows the cultural trek taken by young "Negi" Santiago (nicely played by newcomer Ana Maria Lagasca) from her beloved Puerto Rico to Brooklyn, N.Y., with her tireless mother, Mami Wanda De Jesus), and her numerous brothers and sisters.
Finding herself constantly playing various roles in her life -- from obedient Puerto Rican daughter to young American woman of the early '60s -- it's not surprising that Negi, with some encouragement from her school guidance counselor (Cliff DeYoung), is accepted into the prestigious Performing Arts High School of Manhattan.
The elements of a good story are all there, but they remain compartmentalized, waiting to be ticked off by Venezuela-born Kaplan like items on a large grocery list. Without a stronger dramatic undercurrent, "Woman" is left with the look and feel of a standard-issue TV miniseries, albeit one with standout performances by Lagasca and the always reliable De Jesus, whose world-weary demeanor is put to particularly effective use here.
Based on the second memoir by acclaimed writer Esmeralda Santiago, "Almost a Woman" is a historically vivid but dramatically stunted coming-of-age drama.
Directed by Betty Kaplan, the film follows the cultural trek taken by young "Negi" Santiago (nicely played by newcomer Ana Maria Lagasca) from her beloved Puerto Rico to Brooklyn, N.Y., with her tireless mother, Mami Wanda De Jesus), and her numerous brothers and sisters.
Finding herself constantly playing various roles in her life -- from obedient Puerto Rican daughter to young American woman of the early '60s -- it's not surprising that Negi, with some encouragement from her school guidance counselor (Cliff DeYoung), is accepted into the prestigious Performing Arts High School of Manhattan.
The elements of a good story are all there, but they remain compartmentalized, waiting to be ticked off by Venezuela-born Kaplan like items on a large grocery list. Without a stronger dramatic undercurrent, "Woman" is left with the look and feel of a standard-issue TV miniseries, albeit one with standout performances by Lagasca and the always reliable De Jesus, whose world-weary demeanor is put to particularly effective use here.
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