Customer Reviews

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

***1/2

The Garcia girls consist of women from three successive generations: Dona Genoveva (Lucy Gallardo), the septuagenarian matriarch of the clan; Lolita (Elizabeth Pena), her stressed-out single-mother daughter; and Blanca (America Ferrera), her just-beginning-to-learn-about-life teenaged granddaughter. As the middle person in the hierarchy, Lolita has her hands full dealing with not only her own issues of a middle-aged divorcee struggling to make something of her own life, but those of an aging mother who's suddenly decided she wants to learn how to drive and to become romantically involved with the family gardener, and of a daughter who`s just beginning to learn about boys and the strange impulses and yearnings that are suddenly pouring forth from her rapidly changing body.

At its core, "How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer" shows how the problems of sex, love and relationships cut across all generational lines. Genoveva, for instance, is every bit as interested in achieving physical intimacy with a man as is her virginal teenaged granddaughter. In fact, this is one of the rare films that even acknowledges, let alone dramatizes, the fact that older people can be every bit as sexually preoccupied and sexually active as their much younger counterparts. And the movie also notes that the social and religious taboos placed on senior citizens having sex are every bit as intense as those placed on youngsters for the same thing. And caught in the middle of all this is Lolita, who often doesn't know quite what to make of either her mother or her daughter - or how to find the right balance between her own desires and needs and the responsibilities of being a breadwinner, a supportive daughter and a guiding force in her child's life.

As written and directed by Georgina Riedel, "How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer," which is set in a small dusty town in the Desert Southwest, focuses so intensely on the minutiae of the everyday lives of these women that it's bound to leave some in the audience feeling restive and impatient throughout large stretches of the film. The movie is filled with languid scenes where not a whole lot seems to be happening, and the pacing is often more desultory than it needs to be, which doesn't make the time go any faster. Yet, in a way, the style effectively picks up the rhythm of life in a sleepy town, where the wealth of experience seems frustratingly curtailed and the future itself sadly limited. In fact, Riedel periodically cuts away from the "action" to focus on a group of elderly gentlemen who sit around all day discussing what they've learned over the years about cars and girls, in roughly similar terms - which explains a great deal about just what these women have to deal with on a daily basis just trying to come to terms with their own roles in a largely male-dominated world. And beyond the uncompromisingly truthful and understated performances by the three leading ladies, the director demonstrates a keen eye for composition that makes the film at least visually interesting even when the drama itself isn't always engaging us completely.

Thus, for all its flaws, "How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer" provides many compelling insights into what it means to be a woman - in particular an Hispanic woman - in the modern world.

Much like 'Quinceanera' before it, `How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer' is a deliberate movie with a gentle heart. The movie zeroes in on three generations of Hispanic women in the titled family whose ambivalence about men finds them grappling for much needed tenderness in their lives.

Lolita Garcia (Elizabeth Pena) faces her fortieth birthday. She works at a neighborhood delicatessen where fellow worker, Jose Luis's (Rick Majera) lecherous interest has her as jaundiced about men as her ex-husband. Hitting on her from the other side of the counter is Victor (Steven Bauer), a macho man who's marriage vows go the wayside with every possible conquest.

Lolita is the central figure at home, which is really owned by her mother, Dona (America Ferrera) who wants to learn late in life how to drive a car. Don Pedro (Jorge Cervera) an older gentleman volunteers to teach her and opens up to her a world of opportunities, not just to travel independently, but to rediscover herself. Blanca Garcia (America Ferrera) is her coming-of-age daughter who mingles on the streets with her friends, as they watch the boys (Leo Minaya and Victor Wolf) try to pick them as they pass by in their truck.

Intermittently, a group of elderly men sitting on a street corner make reflections in Spanish of past glory days with girls and cars. A Greek chorus of sorts, the men speak on behalf of the wolve-like ways of men.

The movie draws from 'Volver' in tone and themes as it delivers a "can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em" attitude from the women. The acting is as believable as life itself. While some of the jokes have a thoughtful excellence, the film moves like an overly slow sled. Tenderness surely isn't achieved by any deadline, and it's refreshing that they don't take their affairs lightly, but the film's editing could have tightened up their story.

A J.P.'s Pick 3*'s-Good

How The Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer (2005) Elizabeth Peña, America Ferrera
Rated R.
Another basically unknown movie.
This Indy film by a new woman director, is a slice of life taking place in a parched and dust bound piss-ant of a border town in Arizona.
This town can be best described as a derelict vehicle set on blocks in the desert and waiting to rust away as the years roll on by, without anyone ever noticing.
No where to go.
Nothin' to do.
A dirt road to nowhere in particular so why is there even a road?
Towns like this offer a corner video store as it's only breath of life to all its residents. That and the local laundromat hangout.
Three generations of Hispanic women: mom, daughter and grandma, begin to collide when old and new cultures cross swords as they all decide to break out of their monotony.
Their trials lead them to many experiences and revelations.
The characters and their lives are oddly affecting.
They're all looking for something. Is it love? Is it freedom from loneliness? And just how do you get there? And what is the price to pay?
Where can true tenderness be found? And is there such a thing?
This is a slow and meaningful character study. A film with a gentle heart. Some may find it boring but towns and lives like this are boring, Yet there is nothing boring about the choices people make in their lives when those choices lead them to a place they had not intended to go.
A movie for a quiet evening.

Three generations of Hispanic women (Grandmother, mother and daughter) struggle through their relationships with men and sexual encounters in a small town. The grandmother, having lost her husband a long time ago craves the attention of her gardener who helps her learn to drive. The mother, divorced, struggles with her feelings toward men and how intimate and involved she dares to get (and with whom). The daughter is just starting out with her sexual feelings and has her first sexual union. The ideas presented here seem to transcend race or culture and could apply fully to any women; not just Hispanic women. The movie is bold and explores territory that makes one think about how men and women relate to each other sexually in a way that not many movies do. Sex is so casual in many movies; here it is taken seriously and not lightly. I would say it was thoughtful and thought-provoking movie. A couple of the scenes seemed unnecessarily long and a little uncomfortable to watch (the grandmother bathing and the mother pleasuring herself with a toy, even though you only see her face, so it's not that explicit). The primary problem with the movie is that it just isn't very entertaining and it plods along so slowly. It's a very boring movie and that's a shame, because it could have been an important movie, if it had been done a bit differently. It's a good exploration of the human condition, even though very poorly done.

Sexuality comes in all ages.

Georgina Garcia Riedel directed this independent movie, a movie inspired by her own grandmother. It's a well-written and finely-acted thinking woman's movie.

This movie is about a three-generational Mexican-American family in Somerton, Arizona (SW of Yuma), a small town in which rumors spread quicker than sand storms. These three women go through different phases of awareness in their lives in one hot and dusty southern Arizona summer.

Men play a subordinate role in this film. Machismo is curtailed by leaving out gratuitous violence, abuse and sex. People who want to see lustful sex scene or violent domestic scenes need not look further as you won't find it here. The men who show tenderness toward the women contradict the other macho men. Whenever Riedel wants to change the viewer's attention she goes back to a park scene of five townsmen who appear to have plenty of time just to sit and talk about their old love/sex lives while women in this movie struggle in every scene with men. And cars. Cars in this movie are the connection between men and women.

The women in this movie just want love. Free spirit Blanca (America Ferrera) wants it, Controlling,embittered and lonely divorcee Lolita (Elizabeth Pena) fights it, and Independent Nana (Lucy Gallardo) finds it again. It is Lolita who is the most critical of love. She doesn't seem to understand her mother or her own daughter who seem curious about love. She gets love, too, but refuses to acknowledge it.

Sex. Love. Cars. If cars didn't have a role in this movie perhaps this movie would be boring...

I thoroughly enjoyed Nana in this movie and her struggles with her self-awareness. Buying an old car in the beginning of this movie opened up independence for her, despite her daughter's disappointment that it's just a "hunka junk."

"Why does Nana need a car? She's got us" says Lolita to her daughter.
"Maybe she's lonely," replies Blanca. Lolita can not accept the idea that her elderly mother doesn't rely on her all the time, has a life of her own, or even feels love for another man. Nana and Blanca instead bond more because of their shared experiences of love, and Nana listens to Blanca's advice. In the end, however, all three women learn from each other.

Although Nana can't drive, her widowed gardener Don Pedro (affectionately performed by Jorge Cervera) shows her how. It is during the silent driving lessons around town that a sweet and caring relationship develops between these two characters. Pedro is no longer "just" the dirty gardener, but a loving and patient man. This sweetness tugs at the heartstrings.

"The car's just old, like us. It just got too excited!" Pedro tells Nana when the car breaks down during a driving session.

There are some touching scenes in this movie regardless of poor camera shots and most have little dialogue. In one scene (27-29 minutes) we see Lolita come home after a shift at her butchershop and collapse on the couch. A Spanish love song plays in the background. She smokes her cigarette, listens to the music, the camera slowly zooms toward her face and then we see a tear starts to flow down her right cheek. And in another quiet scene (52 minutes) we see Nana in the bathtub washing herself slowly, and thinking surely of her younger days. Then there's a semi-erotic bedroom scene with Lolita at 1:25 hours. All scenes were tenderly done.

This movie is has its flaws. Scenes jump around between the three women as the story develops, just as suspense builds up between the women and men. Sometimes the camera angle of this production was awkward at times. Sometimes it pans too fast so you see a blurry sky shot. Othertimes you see headless bodies talk. And then sometimes quiet shots take too long and you get bored of that one scene. But the premise of this story was strong enough to overcome these flaws.

The climax is gentle and the reason it appears slow is that there is no background music that prepares the viewer for suspense. The fact that there are no violins, drums or loud trumpets in the background allow the movie goer to think better; "for creative effect" we are told. It works.

Although the DVD cover describes this as a "comedy," it's more of a thinking woman's movie, a sensitive family movie with comedic moments but with plenty of overtones involving fear, loneliness and passion. Although this movie is by and for Latinas, the theme of this film resonates in all women.

4.5 stars. Bravissimo.

I saw 10 minutes of this movie on HBO some months back. After I added this movie to my wish list. I saw the whole thing for the first time today. This movie was slow on some parts. Very sexual. I was a little surprised they focused on the grandmother taking a bath and showing her breast for a long period of time. I wasn't grossed out by it. I understood they were trying to say that the grandmother was attracted to the the man who helped her learn how to drive. Movies usually focused on the young bodies. That is why I was surprised. Any who, this movie was ok. I wouldn't say it was the best movie out.

"How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer" focuses on three generations of Latino women of the same family. This film is a rare gem as viewers will see how love comes to anyone of any age, despite cultural taboos especially senior citizens.

Blanca is a teenaged girl who hangs out with the "new boy" in town. And, just like any other teenaged girl, she flirts dangerously with the idea of love. Her grandmother, Dona Genoveva, buys a used car with the hope to learn how to drive it. No one will teach her except an elderly man in the neighborhood. Despite the cultural expectation of respecting each other, sexual tension between the two slowly arises in such a subtle way.

In the midst of the two is Lolita, the mother. Lolita works at the local deli. Despite her chidings upon her daughter and her mother, she faces a dilemna as two men vie for her attention. One is her boss and the other is the cheating husband of an acquaintance.

Despite who and where you are, you'll be approached with an opportunity for love and/or lust. Just remember that everyone else also faces this dilemna as well.

Loved this movie. A must for any Latina over the age of 16. A lot to identify with. Arrived in great condition, and on time.

I was so disappointed in this movie. I thought it was going to be really good and it wasn't. I couldn't wait for it to end. I wish I would have just rented it.

Thought this movie was going to be good but when I saw it, I was sure disappointed, this movie was so boring I think the price is not worth it. If I could receive my money back, I would.