From Prada to Nada
From Prada to Nada is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Angel Gracia and produced by Gary Gilbert, Linda McDonough, Gigi Pritzker and Chris Ranta. It is loosely based on Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility. The screenplay was adapted by Luis Alfaro, Craig Fernandez and Fina Torres to be a Latino version of the English novel, where two spoiled sisters who have been left penniless after their father's sudden death are forced to move in with their estranged aunt in East Los Angeles.
Pantelion Films opened this film in limited theatrical release in the United States on January 28, 2011. In the United States, this film grossed $3 million theatrically; the box office result met Pantelion's expectation.
Plot
The film opens with Nora studying law and Mary shopping on Rodeo Drive. They head to their home, Casa Bonita, for their father's birthday. While the girls are dancing with their father, he collapses and dies.At the funeral they meet Gabe Dominguez, an unknown half-brother who resulted from an affair that their father had years ago. At the reading of their father's will, they discover that they are bankrupt. Nora and Mary sell their house to Gabe, who lets them live with him and his wife, Olivia. They meet Olivia's brother, Edward, when he visits for lunch. During lunch, Olivia tells the sisters that she is moving them to the basement; refusing to be humiliated in their own home, Nora tells Mary they are moving out. Before they leave, their maid gives Nora a box left by their father.
The two sisters go to East L.A. to live with their maternal aunt, Aurelia, where they are introduced to Bruno, their aunt's neighbor. Nora opens the box and finds letters from her father to Gabe, which his mother returned unopened. Nora quits law school so she can find a job to help support herself and Mary, and tells Mary to finish college. Their aunt sells Mary's car and Prada purse as Mary's contribution to the family. Edward arrives and gives Mary and Nora stuff from their old home, offering Nora a job in his law office - which she declines. Nora responds to a job in the classifieds from a paper Edward gave her, and on the bus ride to work she meets a woman who has been fired from her job as a cleaning lady. Nora arrives at her new job and learns that her boss is Edward. They work together on the case for the cleaning ladies, winning a judgment when they discover that there has been a fraud with their payroll.
Mary returns to college, where she meets and flirts with rich instructor Rodrigo. She gets a ride home from him, directing him to a stranger's Beverly Hills mansion rather than her aunt's house in East L.A. They later share a kiss over lunch. After scoffing at her aunt's suggestion that she invite Rodrigo to the upcoming party at her aunt's home, Mary approaches Bruno outside his house. She makes a deal with him, that if Bruno can make her aunt's backyard look good for a party dedicated to Mexican Independence Day, he can have a dance with Mary. Mary invites Rodrigo to the party and admits to him upon arrival at her aunt's house that this is where she actually lives. After watching how Mary dances with Rodrigo, Bruno declines Mary's offer of a dance to complete the decoration agreement. Edward arrives at the party, and he and a drunk Nora kiss. When Nora becomes afraid of her feelings and that it would destroy her career, she coldly informs Edward that she is "just another girl who answered an ad in the paper" to him and drives him away. Outside, she and Bruno share a bottle of wine, sad over having to lose their chances with Mary and Edward.
When Nora receives a promotion and transfer away from Edward, she quits rather than have people believe she slept her way up. When Nora asks Mary if she loves Rodrigo, Mary tells her that she just wants to go back to Beverly Hills and that Rodrigo can make that happen. In an effort to prevent Mary from making a huge mistake, Nora tells her that motivation makes her a whore, and Mary retorts that she would rather be that than a spinster like Nora. The sisters stop speaking to each other for a while. Nora opens a free legal aid service from her aunt's home.
Unaware of Nora's feelings for Edward, Gabe insists that Olivia send the Dominguez sisters an invitation to Edward and Olivia's best friend Lucy's engagement party at Casa Bonita. Nora is devastated that Edward is getting married, but Mary urges her to go to the party and be honest with Edward about her feelings, stating that if Edward announced an engagement so quickly "he is way more confused that you are". She offers to go with Nora for moral support and the sisters reconcile. At the party, Mary and Gabe go to their father's office, where Mary gives Gabe the letters from their father and he tearfully realises that their father wanted to be in his life. Meanwhile, Nora tells Edward she doesn't count on personal relationships due to losing both her parents and that her rejection of Edward wasn't because she didn't love him. Mary sees Rodrigo at the party with another woman who turns out to be his wife and learns that they are buying Casa Bonita. Heartbroken, Mary leaves the party and has a traffic accident after running a red light.
Gabe visits his half-sisters at the hospital and reveals, without sadness, that he and the shrewish Olivia split up. Mary returns home in a wheelchair sporting a neck brace. The next day, when she goes over to Bruno's house, Mary discovers detailed designs for the wheelchair ramp he made for her, sees that he still has the broken car mirror he replaced for her and other signs that Bruno genuinely cares for her. Mary admits her feelings for him and they kiss for the first time. Edward arrives with a moving truck full of new home and office furniture. He reveals that he bought the house across from her aunt and presents Nora the front door key, attached to an engagement ring. Family and friends are seen celebrating at Nora and Edward's street party wedding.