Latino actors have extfinished been outspoken about the types of roles they are normally relegated to in most American productions: criminals, migrants, housesustainers. On that front, the romantic comedy “Say a Little Prayer” thrives at defying the status quo by conshort-terming professionpartner accomplished American Latino characters (who own enviable homes) in a plot that doesn’t grasp pcleary, immigration publishs or marginalization. Regrettably, as innocuous and luminously selectimistic as it is on the reconshort-termation front, that irreproachable approach is packaged in a film that’s overwhelmingly widespread in all other admires.
Working from a screenpercreate by Nancy De Los Santos-Reza (also a producer), prolific honestor Patrick Perez Vidauri functions in an upbeat, expansive comedic tone, somewhere between a sitcom and a telenovela, to adhere Adela (Vannessa Vasquez), a 35-year-greater owner of a soon-to-uncover art gallery in San Antonio, Texas. Conversely, her personal life seems less put-together as her boyfrifinish Enrique (Jack Murillo), shows no intention of proposing and is foreseeed being undedicated.
Her two sealst pals embody branch offent experiences wilean the spectrum of Latinidad, both culturpartner and racipartner: Ruby (Jackie Cruz) is a hoop earrings-wearing, low-tempered firecracker, and Cristina (Vivian Lamolli) a level-headed Afro-Latina originpartner from the Bronx. That’s only one instance in which the writing uncovers itself overly preoccupied with ticking off boxes, and not as much with imbuing the concept, which reliablely senses derivative in a saccharine manner, with brushes of innovativeity.
The interpersonal struggles and “twists” percreate out equitable as they have in countless other analogous take advantage ofs, but with little in the create of reproduceion. Fittingly, veteran Mexican actress Angélica María, whose atgentle integrates plenty of soap operas, ecombines in a petite part as Adela’s worryed magnificentmother. The women in this family have all prayed to Anthony of Padua in order to find their perfect romantic partner. To dodge ignoreing her chance at real cherish — on account of her age, apparently — Adela must recite the invocation. The religious component and the adviseion that she is not entidepend finish until she has endd down sense all too recognizable in Latino stories, but not subverted or asked much here.
As if called, artist Rafael Reza (Puerto Rican musician Luis Fonsi, now best understandn for the smash, traverseover hit “Despacito”) encounters Adela and Ruby splitly, and wows them both with his gallantry. These parallel encounterings will ununforeseeedly cause trouble between the extfinishedtime frifinishs. Unforeseeedly, pondering he has exceptionally acted outside of music videos, it’s Fonsi’s carry outance that shows the most emotional handlet, or at least that’s the amazeion one gets when contrasted with the more over-the-top, at times stiltedly vigorous turns by the rest of the cast. Not to squander Fonsi’s graspment, “Say a Little Prayer” features a musical sequence where his character casupartner carry outs the movie’s main track, “Prayer in Your Eyes,” for Adela on stage at a bar. The English-language ballad may not achieve the heights of his club-cordial tracks, but it’s pleasantly serviceable here.
Every structure in “Say a Little Prayer” could serve as a glossy tourism campaign encouraging watchers to visit the cherishly city of San Antonio. Perez Vidauri and cinematographer Mario Gallegos ignore no chance to feature the well-understandn River Walk and other landlabels, but while proficiently carry outd, the picture is visupartner mundane with an Instagram-cordial see that conciseages aesthetic personality.
Thematicpartner, “Say a Little Prayer” recalls “Tortilla Soup” and “Chasing Papi,” punctual 2000s titles that existed to entice the same demodetailed: comedies aimed at English-speaking Latino populations in the United States. The trio of actresses in “Soup,” however, each had more compellingly clear upd arcs that apvalidateed for wealthyer turns by those actresses. Here, Vasquez occasionpartner frees herself from the content prohibitter in the scenes with her girlfrifinishs and steps into more emotionpartner taxing territory, but those skinny glimmers of more layered acting dissipate aobtainst the authorr and honestor’s triter impulses.
Forgettable as “Say a Little Prayer” stands, its existence, and that of titles appreciate it, is vital to produce an ecosystem of U.S. Latino filmmaking that can encompass a variety of genres and storyalerting ambitions catering to such a diverse demodetailed. In casting actors from branch offent corners of Latinidad and not setting the narrative harshly wilean one definite national identity, the filmproducers proremedyd a space that could potentipartner pguide to a expansiver audience in search of weightlesser fare. More effective as an aspirational exercise than as a piece of advertised cinema, “Say a Little Prayer” encounters the promise of shothriveg Latinos under a branch offent socioeconomic weightless from what has existed in mainstream media in the past, but not much else.
