Home > Chicago Movies > Movie Review > Movie review: 'How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer'

3 stars (out of four)

Georgina Garcia Riedel’s debut feature could have been a real dud—or at the very least, a chore. Saddled with more “serious” themes than a presidential campaign, this coming-of-age narrative tackles body image, sexuality, religion, gender roles, the immigrant experience and (whew!) dwindling economic prospects in small-town America. And yet, somehow, Riedel has spun this string of heavyweight issues into a subtly beautiful tapestry that’s both entertaining and deeply affecting.

The film follows three generations of women—played by America Ferrera, Elizabeth Peña and Lucy Gallardo—through one summer in their small Arizona town. It’s the kind of town where nothing much happens, on the surface, anyway. Everyone knows one another; gossip travels fast, and traffic moves slowly. In the dusty town square, the old men sit together kib itzing and elbowing each other as the women walk by.

Unlike so many of her peers who depend on music to do everything but deliver the dialogue, Riedel isn’t afraid of silence; early in the film there’s a solid minute of noiselessness as the camera lovingly pans the town, establishing the story’s visual reference points.

Blanca (Ferrera, whose backlog of pre-“Ugly Betty” independent films must be nearly exhausted) is 17, and therefore deeply bored by life (but not by boys) and unfailingly dismissive of everything her mother, Lolita (Peña), says. Lolita, divorced and frustrated, is similarly disinterested in her own mother’s wishes—and is horrified when Dona Genoveva (Gallardo) buys herself a dilapidated car. But stubbornness runs in the family, and soon the shy but charming Don Pedro (Jorge Cervevo Jr.) is teaching Dona Genoveva how to drive. (And let’s just say the clunker isn’t the only thing getting revved up. Wink, wink.)

Blanca, meanwhile, is engaged in some heavy flirtation with the recently arrived Sal, a bad boy with a pickup truck. (By this point, you’ve probably  figured out that cars play a major role in this story—not just for the men, who discuss their automotive history in the same breath as their romantic pasts—but also for the women, for whom the cars provide a taste of freedom. Not to mention a convenient setting for many of the movie’s sexual interludes).

While some of the younger actors’  deliveries sound stilted, on balance  the cast is wonderful, especially the leads. And even beyond the prodigious talents of Peña, Gallardo and Ferrera, there’s much to admire about this movie. The script is tight and believable; the arguments, slights and affection between the women feel absolutely genuine. And  Dona Genoveva’s unfolding romance with Don Pedro is lovely to watch, as she vacillates between guilt and abandon.

For all its sexual heat, this movie feels incredibly innocent, almost like a throwback: There’s no violence, and the only real danger that surfaces is a pregnancy scare. Riedel, a first generation Mexican-American, has captured  not only the wholesomeness of a vanishing American experience—iconic small-town life—but also its affectionate, claustrophobic intimacy.

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