Newcomer Ferrera and the veteran Ontiveros (a legend in Latino acting circles) mesh wonderfully. Both exude energy, and their interactions appear relaxed and spontaneous.

It frequently doesn't work, but a number of other virtues compensate for the awkward stretches. Newcomer America Ferrera counts as one.

Some pieces of the plot feel dishonest, others contrived, but this 2002 feature also has some nicely observed details and plenty of good messages.

Coming up on its twentieth anniversary, the movie was perhaps ahead of its time with its authentic, at times very funny portrayal of a Latinx family in a Los Angeles little seen on the big screen, and body-positive messaging right in the title.