Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

What looks like a lighthearted comedy winds up giving strong messages in "Casi Divas," a 2008 film.The story concerns a "Scarlett O'Hara" type nationwide search for a telenovela character for a feature film. She's played on TV by a temperamental diva Eva (Patricia Llaca) who is furious she's not doing the movie, but the film will harken back to the character's more ingenue and virginal days...Eva's been playing the role for a while now.Out of a massive campaign - based on a true story of a similar casting call where 100,000 Mexican women turned up - four become finalists. One, a blond, Ximena (Ana Layeska) comes from a wealthy family, will do anything for the role; Francisca (Maya Zapata) is from Oaxaca, and she is discriminated against because she is Indian; Catalania (Diana Garcia) is from Juarez, where young women disappear and are turned out as prostitutes. Finally, Yesinia (Daniela Schmidt) plays a woman with a secret.After all the auditions and Miss America type questions, Eva's attempts at seducing the creator of the show, Ximena jumping Alejandro (Julio Bracho) in his vehicle, the film turns quite serious. Each of these young women finds out who they are and what they want through the process. It's quite moving.I can't dissect this film the way true Mexicans have - these women are supposedly all stereotypes, the town of Juarez is misrepresented as a vast wasteland, etc., but the film does show up some of Mexico's problems under the guise of comedy.One problem I had was that, to me, Yesinia was completely wrong for the role, yet she is in the finals. Her role is important, but perhaps it could have been cast better so she fit in. Nevertheless, the cast does a fine job.

I thought long & hard to come up with a word that describes how I felt after seeing this film. That word, believe it or not, is "enriched".Packaged as a comedy about the silliness of stardom, CASI DIVAS is actually a brilliant social satire that opened my eyes to the amazing, diverse culture south of the border, something that we Americans know so little about. The film focuses on four characters from different regions of Mexico vying for national fame, each having her own unique driving motivation. We get one rich girl, one farmer girl, one street-smart urbanite, and one oppressed worker girl. Each of the four characters is apparently an extreme stereotype of a region, and this may border on offensive if you happen to be from one of those areas, but isn't that what a social satire is supposed to do?The motivations of each of the girls are what make the film so interesting. It shows us that the different cultures within Mexico have immensely different lifestyles, desires and dreams. What's great is that the film doesn't attempt to prioritize one over the other but rather shows us how immeasurable they are against one another. Is one girl's desire to escape the factory any less valid than the rich girl's desire to be as thin and glamorous as her social class dictates? Is the farmer girl's desire to experience life any less valid than the urbanite's desire to show the world she can overcome city prejudices? Each in her own turn, the characters win you over and make you realize how conflicting interests can manage to live together, whether in Mexico or in your own neighbourhood.The film itself is presented as a pseudo-mockumentary. I say 'pseudo' because some scenes have the characters talking to the camera while other scenes are traditionally shot from an omniscient perspective. It's unusual but very effective. I think the scifi DISTRICT 9 (another brilliant social satire) took the same approach. Being that this is a comedy, it instantly made me think of the Christopher Guest mockumentaries (BEST IN SHOW, WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, MIGHTY WIND, etc), and I think if you like those films you'll like this too.Many scenes had me laughing out loud, especially the slapstick scenes which were done just right (physical comedy is an art form unto itself). But what I loved was the way the movie avoided the predictable cat-fighting between contestants. Instead, most of the conflict came from family members, jilted lovers and shady peripheral characters. This made it unpredictable and entertaining up to the very end.One other thing I wanted to mention is, even though this is a satire, it doesn't descend to sarcasm or cynicism. This gives the whole film a very upbeat & cute presentation, despite its pointed message. It's refreshing to see that filmmakers are still capable of tackling heavy issues while remaining light-hearted.On top of it all, it packed some really powerful human moments that did not seem contrived at all. In fact, you realize that these human moments are what the movie is all about. I highly recommend this movie because it covers all the bases. Comedy, drama, social commentary, and some great lookin babes to boot.By the way, you can currently find this DVD for $2 in the bargain bin at your local Blockbuster. If you pick up a copy, you will not regret your purchase!

Eva, a sexy star of one of Mexico's most popular "telenovelas", is, in reality, a "primadonna". She thinks nothing of having temper tantrums and walk out of a set if things don't go her way. To make matters worse, she is nearing that certain age as her looks are starting to fade. Well, she is in for the biggest surprise of her life. Alejandro, the producer of the successful soap opera, has decided to launch a search for an unknown talent that will play the new version of the series. Never underestimate a woman who feels betrayed!This light comedy, conceived and directed by Issa Lopez, is a fun film to watch. The film is just a spoof about those bigger than life soaps that are so popular in the country, as well as in the rest of the world. The Mexican television industry has made this form of entertainment a great escape for people that love to follow the complexities of lives so much different from theirs. Director Lopez injects a bit of criticism in the way each of the principals have had to deal with real problems in a society that subtly discriminate them in favor of the more European looking women that are the stars of those 'telenovelas'.Patricia LLaca and Julio Bracho play Eva and Alejandro, the star, and the creator of the famous soap opera. Maya Zapata is Francisca, the girl from rural Oaxaca who gets to the finals, but finds out she can't live a life that is not real. Daniela Schmidt is Yesenia, a girl with a big secret. Diana Garcia plays Catalina, a young woman from the border town where who wants justice for the many victims that have died attempting to cross the border. Finally, Ana Layeska, is seen as Ximena, a spoiled brat that wants to have it her way.The film is entertaining and don't expect nothing more than to be amused for its duration thanks to Issa Lopez and everyone involved in the production.

I am not an expert on film and much less I'm the most qualified person to make a comment about a film, then I'm exactly going to write, with less offensive words, what I think about the worst Mexican film of all time, and not because we have a lot of art films but actually Issa Lopez offends any Mexican with his "Casi Divas" To begin the movie is full of clichés and stereotypes that only the people of Mexico City, I want to clarify that not most, but people with little culture believed on people of other states. So Issa ridicules the majority of women and paints as many people abroad think that Mexico is, a place of marginalized, uneducated, naive and corrupt and useless mentally. And is that all the characters in the film are pseudo-animals with hollow head and that is what she wants to say about their Mexican roots. Yes, this is the vision of an "artist".I thank really not have paid to see this film and give me sad to recognize that in my country we continue to fund films that have a lack of creativity and intelligence, that unscrupulous people try to sell us a "comedy" moralists with dyes that are ridiculous, as his course tragedy of the dead women of Juarez or Yesenia, and at the end people leave saying "this is good film." So we still do not progress in many ways.In short, Casi Divas has dismal performances, script and all the technical resources that want to use during the film. I wish I could say that this is an isolated case but I am sure that will be repeated. The only thing left to ask is Why Issa tearing the Mexican film even more, do not simply that it were degraded for many years? Why Issa? Why?I Just want to add something: Issa López = René Cardona Jr. Think about it.