Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (2021)

PG-13 Running Time: 90 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • A well-made, personal and rather unflinching look at Rita Moreno’s incredible seven-decade career, largely told by the actor herself.

  • Moreno’s story is more than just a veteran actor sharing stories from old Hollywood; the film offers an insightful look at resilience and perseverance in an industry that has never quite shed the skin of sexism and racism.

  • Rita Moreno is a national treasure and one of the few to earn EGOT status. A documentary on her life is long overdue.

NO

  • Hard to argue against watching this, unless, I suppose, you have zero interest in Moreno, her life, or documentaries in general.

  • Might prove frustrating in that 90 minutes is just not enough time to dig in and deeply explore all the stories and experiences Moreno and others touch on in the film.

  • I imagine some will see the political activism and Moreno’s deeply-felt opinions on societal issues as unnecessary in the broader context of the film. I dunno. I mean…just because personal truths are hard to hear sometimes does not mean they lack value.


OUR REVIEW

There is a disarming nature with Rita Moreno, the legendary, iconic and groundbreaking actor. On the cusp of turning 90 years old, she continues to work hard and find ways to share her powerful voice with the world. 

In the new documentary, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It, her voice rings through loud and clear. Her activism is without question. Her mind is sharp and ever so creative. She charms with a smile and a folksy story or two, then cuts to the quick with the realities of what she has experienced in more than seven decades in the entertainment business.

Quite frankly, 90 minutes is not really enough time to explore all the paths and routes Moreno’s fascinating career has traveled. In Mariem Pérez Riera’s film, Moreno talks directly to viewers while the more conventional talking head/voiceover approach gives us friends and peers’ perspectives of how Moreno fought through sexism and racial stereotyping and typecasting to carve out a distinctive path that finds her returning to the big screen in the fall of 2021, playing a role in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming remake of West Side Story.

West Side Story earned Moreno an Academy Award, checking off the “O” in Moreno’s “EGOT” status (the rare instance when an artist has earned an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award). As Anita, West Side Story seemed to cement her as a bonafide A-list talent, until the ubiquity of work opportunities seemingly vanished from the then-30-year-old star and bouts of depression began to weigh heavily upon her. 

Moreno is unflinching in discussing her experiences, which is refreshing and keeps this film from being the “puff piece” some might anticipate. With a disarming nature, her words catch you by surprise and as a result stick pretty easily. Outing moguls and agents who accosted her and/or raped her is a telling, forthright example of the pervasiveness of sexism in the entertainment industry. Gloria Estefan talks about how these experiences happened to women back then, how they happened when she was at the height of her fame, and how they continue to occur to this very day. 

Filmed, at least in part in 2018, one sequence seems somewhat randomly interjected. Moreno is shown rushing to her dressing room one morning, driving to the set to film an episode of the Netflix series, “One Day at a Time.” Breakfast in hand, she grabs a remote in her dressing room, turns on the television and watches Christine Blasey Ford’s gripping testimony against Supreme Court judicial nominee Brett Kavanaugh. “I am so glad she came forward,” she states. And eventually we understand why this is such a deeply personal moment for Moreno to experience.

What Pérez Riera and co-editor Kevin Klauber build together is a film where we just sit back and listen to Moreno share stories, images, and truths from her Hollywood experience, with friends and peers adding anecdotal thoughts and stories to offer context or further depth. Animated sequences of Moreno as a makeshift paper doll come infrequently but offer a nice touch. 

She opines about her love affair with Marlon Brando and the toll the relationship placed on her. She willingly shares details of deeply personal stories which dig beyond the tabloids and headlines. 

What becomes clear is that Moreno is ready to write new chapters in her career, with no signs of slowing down. The impact the role of Anita played on her both personally and in her career serves as a centerpiece of the film, with an appearance from co-star George Chakiris. Moreno is compassionate but has nothing to hide. And her trust with Pérez Riera allows Moreno to build trust with those watching - speaking directly to us - the casual fan, the cinephile, the devout Moreno fan, or just someone who happens upon the film by chance.

Co-produced by PBS for its documentary series, “American Masters,” the film arrives in theaters for several weeks ahead of its television premiere. Though rather conventional in its look and feel, one cannot deny that, in a time where racial justice and inequality remains a prolific topic among all aspects of life, her’s is a story that needs to be shared.

Largely linear with its timeline, the film concludes on a lifetime achievement honor that encapsulates a career unlike any other. And yet, as Moreno wears a T-shirt that brings the film’s full title into focus, it is hard to not drift back to the scars she bears as a result of fighting through the toils and struggles she has overcome throughout her seven-decade career. Moreno’s words have a searing, lasting impact and it remains thrilling to see what she will do next.

CAST & CREW

Featuring: Rita Moreno, Whoopi Goldberg, Eva Longoria, Morgan Freeman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Fernanda Gordon Fisher, Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Justina Machado, Héctor Elizondo, George Chakiris, Gloria Estefan, Tom Fontana, Terrence McNally

Director: Mariem Pérez Riera
Release Date: June 18, 2021
Roadside Attractions