User Reviews

"Margarita Happy Hour" works well as both a movie and a sociological slice of life.

It's "Sex and the City" as set in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. I was torn between sympathy for the downtrodden club-hopping single moms and calling "Judging Amy'"s social worker Mom to get their babies away from them.

I see-sawed between tears and gasps -- in a decidedly down-scale take on "Ladies Who Lunch" was this one really gonna let that toddler sip out of her cocktail glass? Would the electronica turntables ever be turned down so the baby could get some sleep? But then a mom was really trying to get her sick baby on Medicaid.

But this isn't quite seven years later for the girls of Larry Clark's "Kids" (a movie that made me sick for two weeks after viewing) -- this multi-ethnic group seems to be somewhat voluntarily poor, as they and their both sex significant others -- who are shown to be as childish with no impulse control as the babies whose names are just miniatures of their mothers-- are sort of artists and writers. At least one girlfriend does question whether it's appropriate for the central woman to take her toddler with her as she drops off her illustrations at the pornography magazine she free-lances for.

Writer/director Ilya Chaiken is particularly effective with her seamless flashbacks as we gradually see how the lead characters got into their situation, using the metaphor of a circular trap of behavior and feelings.

What is clear, despite the tawdry surroundings, is that these women genuinely love their babies and the children are finally their salvation (the credits include a list of the children of the cast and crew that inspired them). So there's a somewhat hopeful if not completely believable conclusion.

As a very small indie movie probably only music by their friends could be afforded on the soundtrack, which is mostly loud and not melodic, so the sound hurts when the visuals do too.

(originally written 3/23/2002)

Not as the poster (or cover jacket) suggests, which leads you to believe this is some dire Hollywood rom com. On the contrary this is a smart indi picture set in Brooklyn and a very serious study of motherhood (with dreams of a time that is quickly passing them by, or gone forever). The story revolves around a group of young women who meet up for lunch (cocktails) and discuss love and life. They all now have toddlers and the focus is that delicate balance of wild youth and the responsibility, coupled with the drudgery of everyday life.

I was expecting too much, perhaps, but this independent feature pretty much sums up all that can go wrong with non-mainstream cinema. The story of a group of twenty-something mothers who drown their sorrows in brightly coloured margaritas at the local bar EVERY SINGLE DAY, Margarita Happy Hour has no plot and a group of characters so utterly unattractive and uninteresting that you'll have stopped caring what happens next after the first ten minutes. Larry Fessenden, a fine filmmaker in his own right, is unable to elevate things much as Max, the useless schmuck of a father who prefers to spend his spare time snorting coke and getting into fights. The only actress of note is lead Eleanor Hutchins, whose expressive face does more for the film than the entire script.

This was billed as the directoral debut of Ilya Chalken and she generally acquits herself well in this low budget effort about the problems of child rearing when you are living on the margins of society.

The plot revolves around Zelda, a starving artist, played by Eleanor Hutchins, who is trying to raise a toddler in a chaos filled life in a Brooklyn slum. She co-habitates with Max, an apparently none too successful writer who spends very little time writing, and a lot of time out in the street, starting fist fights with almost anyone who looks the wrong way at him. He's sort of a Brendan Behan character, without the Irish wit or charm. Also living in the house is Natali, played by Holly Ramos, a recently rehabed druggie who almost killed herself with an overdose.

That essentially is the plot. It's mostly about a mom trying to cope with the requirements of motherhood when dad is largely disinterested in fatherhood.

The film hurts in part from a lack of subplot. Not much else seems to be going on here and the main story line could profit from something else big happening in this couple's lives, because then it would raise the stakes in the main story. It would make us care more whether Zelda takes her child and goes, or stays to work things out.

My big problem with this film may be political. I am admittedly a man, but this film to me looks at the problems it raises from a very slanted perspective. Since the film indicates Max wanted Zelda to have an abortion in the first place, I can only assume that either Baby Z was unplanned, or that Zelda intentionally got pregnant, no matter what Max wanted. But shouldn't Zelda have scoped Max out well enough to begin with to know he wasn't ever going to qualify for father of the year award? She certainly knows about his tendency toward violence. This isn't a guy who would be high up on most girl's lists of prospective mates.

It is also Zelda who brings a drug addict into the house; Zelda who sings her little girl to sleep, while guests are doing coke lines in the next room. (Did she ever consider telling her friends that doing drugs in her home was not acceptable?)

Zelda in her own way seems just as selfish as the man in her life.

All this sounds judgmental, of course, but don't forget, this is a judgmental movie, one in which a woman with no reliable source of income, no strong relationship, and a world filled with druggie friends, has decided to bring a child into the world, damn the consequences.

The message of this movie seems to be one which psychologists and marriage counsellors say they frequently hear from women. "If he loved me, he'd change." Maybe the message should have been: "Bringing a baby into this world is an awesome responsibility. Maybe I should think about this a little more thoroughly."

This is a fine independent film.

The performances were very good. The women and men staring in the film gave this sometimes over wrought script humanity and humor.

The direction was excellent. I thought that the film suceeded both in communicating the humanity of the characters without losing a coherent visual style and mode of communication.

I hope this finds a distributor.

If good stories make good movies, you can forget "Margarita Happy Hour". The flick follows a Brooklyn single mom, Zelda, through one pedestrian activity to another interminably. A sort of slice-of-a-dull-life flick, "MHH" is 95% girl talk and 5% plot none of which are likely to be, as movies go, of much interest to anyone. The flick does flesh out some characters well and offers good art and technicals. However, without a story, there's probably too little substance here for anyone save some single moms who can relate and fans of the players. (C-)

The movie was truly great and exceeded many of my expectations.

While only a supporting actress, Macha Ross, was able to capture my attention with each line she delivered.

I am hoping to be able to see this movie on the big screen again.