How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer
Film Review by Kam Williams
Dona (Lucy Gallardo) is the elderly matriarch presiding over the
Genoveva family which is also comprised of her daughter, Lolita
(Elizabeth Pena), and her teenage granddaughter, Blanca (America
Ferrara). It is the start of a sweltering summer in their sun-bleached,
Arizona border town where more than the weather is set to get steamy.
For each of these lonely ladies is experiencing the pangs of erotic
awakenings in her own unique way. For Dona, her nostalgia-driven desire
is triggered by memories of her first love a half-century or so earlier.
This inspires her to buy a junked jalopy similar to the one driven by
her high school sweetheart.
Trouble is, Dona isn’t a mechanic and never even learned to drive.
Lucky for her, Don Pedro (Jorge Cevera, Jr.) happens to be handy and has
a lot of time on his hands. And the retired gentleman is hot-to-trot,
too, so it isn’t long before sparks start to fly between these frisky
senior citizens.
Meanwhile, middle-aged Lolita, who works the counter at the local
butcher shop, has two guys interested in her. One is a secret admirer,
an unassuming co-worker (Rick Najera) she barely notices and just
considers a friend. She finds herself more attracted to a suave but
sleazy married customer (Steve Bauer) who has shamelessly been putting
the moves on her. But between being a devout Catholic and living in a
tiny community where gossip spreads fast means there’s little chance
she’d dare embark on an adulterous affair.
Not to be outdone by her suddenly aroused elders, Blanca sets about
seducing Sal (Leo Minaya), a shy boy her own age. He’s obviously
interested, but too inexperienced to know how to approach a girl.
However, once she takes the bull by the horns, so to speak, and shows
him the ropes, their puppy love goes from innocent to intimate so fast
she has to buy an early pregnancy test.
These three relationships share the limelight equally in How the
Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer, a deliberately-paced, intergenerational
dramedy. Via a winning mix of understated elegance and unexpected
intimacy, the film reels you in and holds your attention for the
duration.
The movie marks the sensational, feature-length directorial debut of
Georgina Riedel, who exhibits an admirable confidence behind the camera
in serving up such a daring depiction of lusty libertines whose most
carnal of urges stand quite independent of their search for a soulmate.
Perhaps the picture’s most frustrating moment arrives when the
guilt-ridden heroines, like good Catholic girls, confess their every
indiscretion to the parish priest (Ricky Lopez).
That concession to patriarchy notwithstanding, this female
empowerment flick nonetheless affirms the notion of satisfaction as a
woman’s prerogative. Bless me father for I have fornicated, and loved
it!
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for nudity, sexuality and profanity.
In English and Spanish with subtitles.
Running time: 128 minutes
Studio: Maya Releasing
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Lloyd
Kam Williams 