Take away that ending, and you haven't got a movie. Fortunately, Selena also has actress Jennifer Lopez, who is good enough to hold your attention when the movie is not.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 6, 2023

[Jennifer Lopez] has a star-making role here and more than fulfills it. The actress is so vital and commanding that she makes one spookily aware of the loss of the real Selena.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 6, 2023

As conventional mainstream filmed entertainment, then, Selena may not succeed completely. But as a ritual of celebration and closure it will provide its audience with an opportunity for some cathartic memories, laughs and tears.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 6, 2023

While Olmos is the soul of the film, Jennifer Lopez as Selena is its playful heart. Lip-synching to popular recordings by the singing sensation and bopping to her irrepressible beat, she personifies girlish high hopes.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 6, 2023

As Selena, Lopez glows with eagerness and joy. She does resemble the person she portrays, but she amplifies the characterization with impeccable body language.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 6, 2023

Because the movie is a giant fan letter, it spends much too much time on such warm family interactions and not enough on matters that would strengthen the plot and educate people who aren't that familiar with her or her music.

| Original Score: C | Sep 6, 2023

Writer/director Gregory Nava clearly knows where his loyalties lie. But to homogenize Selena so thoroughly is wrong.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 6, 2023

Director Gregory Nava might have done us all a favor by tightening up the script. Still, fans of the music, which mixes traditional Mexican styles with rock music, should enjoy the movie for its many songs and Lopez's convincing portrayal.

| Sep 6, 2023

It's touching and sad, and you leave the movie wishing Selena had lived to do more. Even if you can't really remember anything you heard her sing.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 6, 2023

When I see Selena, a movie as sanitized as an intensive care unit, I'm not seeing through the eyes of a devotee studying a saint. I see a long picture with more syrup than a pancake house.

| Sep 6, 2023

We're left with a banal biopic that has the stamp of Hollywood all over it but practically nothing of the vivid Mexican-American who made it big in the pop culture mainstream.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 6, 2023

The result feels like a work produced for the Family Channel, to be followed by a panel discussion about family values and a sales pitch for the new Selena doll.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 6, 2023

In a performance captivating enough to lend validity to some of the more heavy-handed "message" dialogue, Lopez emerges as a talent to watch.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 6, 2023

It's difficult to make an interesting movie about a nice person -- and the late Texan singing sensation Selena appears to have been a very nice person.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 6, 2023

Selena is well-made, hummable, too long yet quite watchable. At its center is a plaster saint.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 6, 2023

If Olmos brings dignity and stature to what could have been a problematic role, Lopez overcomes what must have been a lot of curiosity if not outright skepticism on the part of Selena's fans. They should be satisfied, though.

| Sep 6, 2023

The most interesting thing about Selena, judging from "Selena," is that she died young. There's got to be more to it than that, but it's not in this movie.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 6, 2023

When Lopez is allowed to shine in a few numbers, she generates heat. But the movie flattens out when she is off stage.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 6, 2023

The PG-rated film is understandably ultra-respectful of Selena, her family and the Mexican-American heritage. But the result of all this respect is a rather bland 온라인카지노추천 movie that might have been sponsored by the Catholic Church.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 6, 2023

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

| Sep 6, 2023