One of the things I often take delight in is the unexpected.  Much of the time, God works in this way.  We can pray for something to happen how we hope, but then God has another plan.  Things do not always work the way we want, but God’s way is always best and we should give praise and thanks that this is so.  On a non-Spiritual level (if there is such a thing), it is always great when a movie, for example, is surprisingly good.  This is what happened with today’s film, From Prada to Nada (2011).  The title says much about what will take place in this romantic comedy based on Jane Austen’s 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility.  Actually, had I known this fact before encountering it, I might have been more interested.  My attitude was based on stereotypes.  Because I have little interest in high fashion, the eponymous brand told me that was going to be dealing with themes that I would find tiresome.  I also worried that it would be more of a goofy, slapstick comedy.  I am happy to report that all of these assumptions proved wrong, and allow me to tell you why.

If judged simply by the opening credits of From Nada to Prada, then my suspicions would have proven correct.  Sisters Mary (Alexa Vega) and Nora Dominguez (Camilla Belle) are used to the life of wealthy Beverly Hills socialites, and we meet them as they are shopping.  They return home as preparations are underway for their father’s, Gabriel Dominguez Sr. (Alexis Ayala), 55^th birthday.  He is overjoyed to see his two daughters.  Sadly, as they are sharing a private moment, Gabriel has a heart attack and dies.  At the funeral, a person arrives whom Mary and Nora had never met.  Their aunt, Aurelia Jimenez (Adriana Barraza), informs the girls that he is Gabriel Dominguez Jr. (Pablo Cruz Guerrero), their brother they have never known.  Gabriel Jr. comes to the reading of the will later with his girlfriend, Olivia (April Bowlby), who is too eager to divide the spoils of the inheritance.  The last thing they expect to be told is that Gabriel Sr. had been bankrupt and in debt, having hid it from all his children.  The only thing they really have is the palatial house, though Olivia suggests they fix it up and sell, her and Gabriel Jr. being into real estate.  To do so, Mary and Nora must move out while the renovations are completed.  Nora, being the prudent one with ambitions of becoming a lawyer, has a plan that Mary is not keen on: move in with Aunt Aurelia in the predominantly working-class Mexican-American neighborhood of East Los Angeles.  Because they are also short on money, their aunt arranges for their high-end vehicle to be sold, essentially trading it for a beat-up Honda that Mary is embarrassed to drive.  At the same time, Nora makes an effort to get a job.  She has an offer from Edward Ferris (Nicholas D’Agosto), Olivia’s sensible attorney brother who is immediately taken with Nora.  Since she is fiercely independent, Nora vows to find employment on her own, but ends up filling the open position at Edward’s firm.  On the bus ride there for her first day, she talks with some fellow passengers and learns that they have been scammed out of their low-level maintenance positions, and that their pay has not matched with the amount of work they have done.  Hence, before she has officially started, she has brought Edward a case.  As for Mary, she believes she has a quick path out of her supposed squalor when she meets a new teaching assistant in her college literature course, Rodrigo Fuentes (Kuno Becker).  In addition to being bright, he comes from a rich Mexican family.  Mary is able to charm him into going out with him, even suggesting that he buy her old house because she is convinced they will marry and live there happily ever after.  Still, there is another who is interested in her.  Across the street from Aunt Aurelia’s house lives the artist Bruno (Wilmer Valderrama).  He initially calls Mary out for being spoiled, but they share a moment while looking at his work.  What brings all these paths together is Edward winning the case for Nora’s workers.  To celebrate, Aunt Aurelia insists that her nieces bring their prospective men to a party they are having for independence day.  During it, Edward professes his love for Nora, but she does not believe he is sincere and refuses her advances.  As for Bruno, when he sees Mary there with Rodrigo, he gets discouraged.  With that, Nora is forced to find another place to work, while Rodrigo says that he is going to be out of town for a few weeks.  The sisters move on with their lives until they get an invitation to an engagement party being hosted at their former residence in honor of Edward and his new bride-to-be, Lucy (Karla Souza).  Everyone encourages them to go, especially for Nora so that she can finally admit to Edward how she truly feels about him.  During the soiree, Nora is able to talk privately with Edward, though he is pulled away by his fiancée.  Also, Mary discovers that it is Rodrigo who is purchasing the house, and that he is married.  Devastated by this development, she immediately departs to go home, but is t-boned while going through an intersection and is hospitalized.  She is visited there by Gabriel Jr., who had received the letters from his father given him by Mary, and informs them that he is no longer with Olivia.  When Mary is released, she makes amends with Bruno.  Not long thereafter, Edward arrives with a truckload of furniture.  He has called off his engagement to Lucy, purchased another home across from Aunt Aurelia, and has a ring for her.  The last scene is of Edward and Nora getting married.

If you predicated that From Nada to Prada would end with a wedding, then you are using those previously mentioned stereotypes and applying them to romantic comedies.  Or it could be that you are familiar with Sense and Sensibility. Either way, watching as simply another, generic example of a played-out genre is one way of looking at the movie. Another is to appreciate the rich Catholic culture to be found amongst the Mexican Americans in the film.  Of course, Mary is the more Americanized of the two, and it is therefore significant that she is the sexually adventurous one.  After Aunt Aurelia’s party, she apparently sleeps with Rodrigo, and we see her getting out of his bed.  There are, of course, committed Catholics who give into the temptation to pre-marital sex.  Another stereotype in this regard is that once you do something like this, you can never again call yourself a real follower of Jesus.  This ignores reconciliation, which is not intended as a sort of spiritual “get out of jail free card,” but to encourage us put aside sinful behavior.  Nonetheless, the person who behaves in a manner one would expect of a Catholic is Nora.  On the point of promiscuity, it is mentioned early on that she is twenty-four and has never been kissed.  There is nothing wrong with kissing.  It is the things that Mary does that are objectionable according to the Church.  What I appreciate more is the fact that Nora wears a Marian medallion around her neck.  Some production assistant probably thought this would make her look more Mexican since she is the character that cares more about her heritage, and that person is right.  Catholicism is embedded into Mexican American society.  It goes beyond seeing the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in a number of places, which is always great.  More specifically, I underscore the scene when Mary is in the hospital, and Aunt Aurelia and another woman are praying the Rosary bedside.  I wish more movies would show this side of culture.

As such, if you watch From Prada to Nada as just another romantic comedy, you will not be shocked by anything that happens.  However, when viewed as a celebration of Mexican American culture, there is value in its viewing.  It is for this last reason that this one gets my recommendation.