Margarita Happy Hour

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-)

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.

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.

"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.