Margarita Happy Hour

The film centers around Zelda (Eleanor Hutchins), a woman who is living a Bohemian lifestyle with her poet boyfriend and their baby in a Brooklyn apartment. They live with dozens of other people, including her best friend, who is recovering from an overdose. Zelda and her friends, all recent moms, meet for girl talk and $2.00 Margaritas at a sidewalk bar. They morn the loss of their exciting, carefree lives, and they discuss such wide-ranging topics as lactation, reduced sex drive after childbirth, and trying to get Medicare for their babies.

Zelda does not have the ideal mate in Max, in that he goes out most nights, is not exactly a breadwinner (she does freelance illustrations for a porn mag to help), uses drugs, and tends to get into fights. She wants better for her daughter.

DVD info from Amazon.

widescreen format, anamorphic, 1.85

Basically a character driven drama, this film will be understood by any woman who has ever given birth. The acting is genuine and believable. The story managed to avoid being a melodrama, which it could easily have fallen into, and even has a surprise ending. The photography and sets look very good for what was clearly a low budget production.

The Critics Vote

filmcritic.com 4/5

Rotten Tomatoes summary. 78% positive.

Metacritic.com. 62/100

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 6.5/10 (statistically insignificant)

with their dollars: once again, there was a great disparity between its popularity in England and the USA. It grossed about $31 million in the USA, only $4 million in the UK, a proportionate difference not accounted by the population ratio.

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C-. Certainly not for everyone, but character driven drama fans intrigued by the subject should give it a try.