How The Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer

Rating:

* * *

Verdict:

A slow but realistic and gentle drama about three generations of women dealing with love and loneliness.

It's taken four years for

How The Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer

to get from screening at the Sundance Film Festival to general release, and its slow journey is fitting for this languidly told indie drama where nothing happens in a hurry.

Georgina Garcia Riedel's drama about three generations of women finding love is a timeless story which has been told before, but it's handled genuinely, with both comic and touching moments.

Sparse and ponderous, this captures a slice of real life in the small dusty town of Somerton, Arizona, where everyone knows everyone's business and little really takes place. The treatment mirrors this, there is no soundtrack, limited dialogue, and, well, limited action, but it's still an engaging experience thanks to three charming and candid performances by its lead actresses.

Dona Genoveva (Gallardo) is the matriarch of this Mexican American family, a 70-year-old widow who decides to buy her first car, even though she can't drive. When her gardener Don Pedro (Jorge Cervera jr) offers to give her driving lessons her solemn, dutiful daughter Lolita (Pena) is anxious about what people will think, especially as their relationship grows. It's not long though before Lolita herself becomes the subject of town gossip as things heat

up at the local butchery where she works. And then there's her daughter Blanca (Ferrera from TV's

Ugly Betty

), who also makes it a summer to remember when she falls in love for the first time.

Riedel's fly-on-the-wall approach and intimate close-ups work well, but she's also prone to adding unnecessary arty shots that slow down what is already a gently paced story. This is a classic indie film in that you need patience to sit back and let it wash over you.

Francesca Rudkin

Cast:

Elizabeth Pena, America Ferrera, Lucy Gallardo

Director:

Georgina Garcia Riedel

Running time:

128 mins

Rating:

M (Sex Scenes)