From Prada to Nada

This 2011 rom-com stars Camilla Belle and Alexa PenaVega as sisters Nora and Mary. They find out they're bankrupt after their father's death, and they're left with nothing. They move in with their aunt in East LA and spend the rest of the movie adjusting to life in a low-income neighborhood with a large Latino population, where they eventually develop an appreciation for their Mexican heritage and also find hot boyfriends.

What's different

I was worried this would be another Material Girls situation, but this movie does actually seem to be a modern Sense and Sensibility adaptation. Nora, the Elinor character, is a law student who takes their change of circumstance in stride and seems willing to do whatever is necessary to just keep on keepin' on. She wears glasses so you know she's smart and serious. Mary, the Marianne character, is an aspiring nothing until they lose their wealth, then she becomes an aspiring gold digger.

Sounds like marriage material to me tbh.

She starts dating the TA from her literature class, Rodrigo (Willoughby), but it's unclear how much she likes him separate from his money. Meanwhile, the looks-like-a-thug-but-has-a-heart-of-gold neighbor Bruno (Brandon) fixes every minor annoyance that Mary complains about and generally makes it obvious that he's into her.

But he's also kind of a sarcastic ass.

One of the major differences is the Lucy plot. Lucy is conveniently named Lucy in this movie. Instead of being already engaged to Edward, she is the best friend of his sister Olivia (Fanny). It's not clear why Olivia is so determined to set Lucy and Edward up, but she is and she does. After Nora rejects Edward, he basically rebounds to Lucy, and they are engaged very soon after. I think Lucy has like one line in the entire movie, and she only exists to make Nora realize that she wants to be with Edward. Presumably, Edward dumps Lucy at the end, and she's left heartbroken. Also, the movie makes a point of Lucy not being a terrible person (at least when compared to Olivia), but it doesn't seem like we're supposed to like her or feel bad for her, so that seems like a weird choice.

Does this make her a good person?

Another difference is that Rodrigo/Willoughby has zero redeemability. Rodrigo and Mary date for a while, then he leaves to visit his family in Mexico. He actually emails Mary a few times while he's gone. She bumps into him at Edward's engagement party, not expecting him to be back in the country yet, and he introduces her to his wife. So I guess Mary was his mistress the whole time, and he never seems the least bit sorry for it.

"You know, the wife that I definitely told you I had right before we didn't have sex?"

The most surprising difference is that Edward is the enormous creep in this adaptation, not Bruno/Brandon, but I'll get into that later in this post. Get ready for it, I have some very strong feelings.

What I liked

I liked this movie a lot more than I expected to. It was fun to watch, and I appreciated the emphasis on family. I also liked that Nora and Mary did not become wealthy again at the end of the movie. Material Girls was a riches to rags story that ended with a return to riches, and it was not satisfying to watch. From Prada to Nada is a riches to rags story where the characters realize that there are more important things than money and possessions, and they find an even better life in their new circumstances. This is what people want from a riches to rags story!

Rich people: they're just like us!

I mentioned above that Bruno is not a fucking creep, which I always like to see. Somehow they managed to maintain a little bit of the sad-sack vibe that Brandon requires: Bruno watches Mary and Rodrigo dancing and then rejects himself on Mary's behalf when she offers to dance with him. Feels like a classic Brandon move to me.

I'd also like to take a moment to appreciate the all star cast of this movie. We have Spy Kid Carmen Cortez:

Jan's assistant, Hunter, from The Office: 

And Fez from That 70's Show but he's hot now:

What I disliked

Of course, I also have some issues with this adaptation. Since I teased it earlier, let's get right into Edward being my worst nightmare of a boyfriend. I'm going to tell you the entire love story between Nora and Edward without leaving anything out, and then you tell me if this is a healthy relationship.

They meet-cute before the girls move to East LA. After they move, having only met him that one time, he shows up at their house with a moving truck  and a bunch of their belongings the he convinced his sister to let them have (Olivia/Fanny bought everything they owned to "help" them with their bankruptcy problem). Edward tricks Nora into applying for an internship at his law firm, where he becomes her boss.

"Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's your furniture, so work for me maybe?"

Nora convinces Edward to work pro bono for some janitors she met on the bus, and working on the case constitutes all of their together time. They win the case, and Nora invites Edward to a party at her aunt's. Nora gets drunk, and ten minutes after Edward arrives, he kisses her. At age 24, this is her first kiss ever. She freaks out. She quits her job. They do not see each other again.

"Hey, I just kissed you, and you've gone crazy, but now I'm leaving, so don't come into work on Monday."

The girls receive an invitation to Edward's engagement party, and Mary convinces Nora that she should go and tell Edward how she feels. They go to the party and Nora tells Edward she loves him in the vaguest, most roundabout way possible. He says nothing. A few days later, Edward shows up at the house with another moving truck full of furniture. He says he bought the house across the street, he insists that Nora co-sign the deed, and he hands her the house key and an engagement ring.

"Hey, I barely know you, and we've never dated, but I bought you a house, so marry me maybe?"

What.

The.

Fuck.

Nora has never dated anyone and she's had exactly one kiss in her entire life, which happened while she was drunk and caused her to freak out. Edward was engaged to someone else two days ago, he's never been on a date with Nora, but he decides to buy her a fucking house and propose by asking her to co-sign a mortgage?! And she says yes?!?! What is wrong with these people!

Wow, I really should not have started with that piece of criticism because nothing can top that.

Another thing I don't like is what a hypocrite Nora is. She tells Mary that she can't possibly be in love with Rodrigo after so little time, but then she declares her own love for Edward. Mary and Rodrigo were at least dating, they actually spent time together and tried to get to know one another. Nora and Edward, as I might have mentioned, have never gone on a single date and have only hung out in a work-related capacity.

But Mary is not blameless here, oh no. She has the same forced epiphany as Marianne, which I hate. In this adaptation, the near death experience is a car accident, and Mary, sitting in a wheelchair with a neckbrace on, gets sentimental for half a minute and says something about how silly she acted when they first moved in with their aunt.

Clearly, she is a changed woman.

Then, maybe a week after she finds out her boyfriend is married, she rolls into Bruno's house, says she's changed her mind about everything, and they kiss. It's hard not to see this as a rebound, but maybe that's because it's definitely a rebound. At least they take things slower than Edward and Nora, though.

They're definitely getting divorced.

Adaptation wish list

1. Is it funny? — Yes.
2. Is it bitchy? — Yes.
3. Is Brandon less pathetic? — Yes.
4. Is Marianne more believable? — No.

Based on my wish list, this adaptation seems great! I definitely enjoyed it, and if it weren't for Edward and Nora having the worst ending imaginable, I would say I liked the movie. It's a decent rom-com from its time, and the elements of Mexican culture that are incorporated make it feel unique. It's also fairly faithful overall, so it's worth a watch if you like modern-day Austen adaptations.