The title refers to a weekly gathering that a group or five twenty-something mothers have together at a local restaurant where they all drink colorful margaritas and grouse, joke and converse about their lives. But the story centers mainly on three characters: One is Zelda (Eleanor Hutchins) a lanky brunette who lives in a New York flat with her young daughter and her boyfriend Max (Larry Fessenden) who is as frequently absent as he is drugged out. The third character is Natali (Holly Ramos) a recovering drug addict who is a sweet, spaced out woman who is extremely vulnerable to the unstable environs around her.

The film moves along quickly and for the most part avoids serious melodrama instead relying on the mood, the atmosphere and the occasional elliptical narrative leap to tell its story. On more than one occasion the film seamlessly goes back in time to show how the women – only a few years before – went from being clueless young and single to being strapped into motherhood and (well…) still relatively young and single.

The film's strength and weakness come from its verisimilitude. Many of the scenes have a down-to-earth grittiness that recall Cassavettes or Fassbinder yet other times the scenes drag on with awkward pauses and somewhat clumsy direction. There is also a sense that Ilya Chaiken stacks the deck a bit with her main characters by often showing them down and out, drunk, bored and on the verge of something worse.

The message of Margarita Happy Hour appears, on the surface, to be a critical one concerning women who make bad choices in their lives. At times, it seems, the movie has a warning about irresponsible behavior – especially with children involved. But if you stick with the movie to the end (and those impatient with it should) it's clear that the director has too much invested in the lives of the characters to be that heavy handed or cynical. Her message resides in the hopes and aspirations of the 'Happy Hour' Club.

Audio:
The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio and sounds very good. The surround sound helps add to the film's real feel. Lines of dialogue can be heard very well and the soundtrack – featuring Fur and Autobody – is very good.

Video:
The transfer is 1.85:1 and looks to be high-quality although it is hard to tell since there is a natural gritty look to the film. The colors are mostly muted and the various locales look generously grubby.

Extras:
There is a 15 minute behind-the-scenes video titled "Day 17" that is so detached and devoid of information that it doesn't add much to the experience of the film. It would have been good to have an interview with Ilya Chaiken a director who is a talent worth watching in the future. The only other extras as talent bios, which provide the standard write-ups and list of credits.

Overall:
Margarita Happy Hour is an urban drama with a raw dirt-under-the-finger nails veneer: A fact that may turn off many viewers. But the acting is excellent, the script is better than most independent films and the direction is genuine. For the venturesome viewer who likes a good American Independent film this is the ticket.