Rated: R

Her daughter, Lolita (Peña), seems to be in the midst of a dry spell in her own romantic blackhole until things start to sizzle at the butcher shop where she works. Meanwhile, Lolita's teenage daughter, Blanca (Ferrera ), engineers an awakening all her own with a young beau that's new to the town.

This film is, more than anything else, a character piece. It is driven by the acting and the storyline. Garcia Girls is perfect for film students and film buffs alike.

All of the actresses do a great job portraying their characters with the simplicities of real life, adding vulnerability, hypocrisy and self-realization to the dynamic, which makes the Garcia "girls" believable and relatable to the audience.

The progression of this story is very tedious at times, as each woman slowly makes her way through various mountains and valleys of self discovery. The grandmother starts this chain reaction with her car purchase, and from there, like a string of flipped dominoes, the daughter and granddaughter follow with their own adventures of self.

The audience becomes very familiar with each of the main characters' inner voice, beliefs and ultimate ephiphanies, illustrated in both their words and their subtle actions throughout the production. This is where Garcia Girls excels.

While I am not entirely sure I felt comfortable watching a grandmother masturbate in her bath tub, as I never really want to imagine my grandmother doing this, at the same time it makes one realize that even when you are "older" you are still alive and human.

It is funny watching the exchanges between Lolita and Doña as the roles of mother and daughter are reversed, only to then conclude that mother does always know best in the end!

There is one particular pivotal moment between Lolita and her daughter Blanca that parallels the conflict between Lolita and her mother, whereby Blanca forces Lolita to look in the mirror.

The difference between these exchanges result with Blanca being successful in opening her mother's eyes, in contrast to Lolita's failure to get through to her own mother...mainly because Lolita is more or less the "lost soul" in need of guidance. She is stuck in the middle - not young anymore, but not "old" either. It takes both her mother and daughter to show her how to live again.

Starring: America Ferrera, Elizabeth Peña, Lucy Gallardo, Jorge Cevera Jr, Steven Bauer

Final Analysis: This film is a definite treasure for those looking to do a little soul searching of their own, anyone who loves a good character-driven drama, and for all film students.

This Reviewer's Rating: 4 / 5

---

Comments

Add New Search RSS

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."